Notice for the OJ

 

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 15 September 2005 - DaimlerChrysler v Commission

(Case T-325/01) ¹

(Competition - Article 81 EC - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Agency agreement - Distribution of motor vehicles - Economic unit - Measures designed to hinder parallel trade in motor vehicles - Price-fixing - Regulation (EC) No 1475/95 - Fine)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant(s): Daimler Chrysler AG (Stuttgart, Germany) (represented by: R. Bechtold and W. Bosch, lawyers)

Defendant(s): Commission of the European Communities (represented by: W. Mölls, Agent, assisted by H.-J. Freund, lawyer)

Application for

Primarly, annulment of Commission Decision 2002/58/EC of 10 October 2001 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/36.264 - Mercedes-Benz) (OJ 2002 L 257, p. 1) and, in the alternative, reduction in the fine imposed by that decision

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Annuls Article 1 of Commission Decision 2002/758/EC of 10 October 2001 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/36.264 - Mercedes-Benz) save in so far as it finds that DaimlerChrysler AG and its legal predecessors Daimler-Benz AG and Mercedes-Benz AG have themselves or through their subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Belgium SA infringed Article 81(1) EC by participating in agreements to restrict the granting of discounts in Belgium, those agreements having been concluded on 20 April 1995 and terminated on 10 July 1999;

Annuls Article 2 with the exception of the first sentence;

Annuls Article 3 of Decision 2002/758 in so far as it sets the amount of the fine imposed on the applicant at EUR 71.825 million;

Sets the amount of the fine imposed by Article 3 of Decision 2002/758 for the infringement relating to price-fixing in Belgium at EUR 9.8 million;

Dismisses the remainder of the action;

Orders the Commission to bear its own costs and to pay 60% of those incurred by the applicant, and the applicant to bear 40% its own costs.

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¹ -

² - OJ C 68 of 16.3.2002.