Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 14 March 2014 — Cemex and Others v Commission
(Case T‑292/11)
Competition — Administrative proceeding — Decision to request information — Necessity of the information requested — Duty to state reasons — Proportionality
1. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Indication of the legal basis and the purpose of the request — Scope — Infringement of the duty to state reasons — None (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(3)) (see paras 34, 35, 42, 48)
2. Competition — Administrative procedure — Observance of the rights of the defence — Possibility of the undertaking concerned fully relying on those rights only after the sending of the statement of objections (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003) (see paras 38, 39, 43)
3. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Indication of the legal basis and the purpose of the request — Requirement of a necessary link between the information requested and the infringement investigated — Discretion of the Commission — Judicial review — Scope (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(3)) (see paras 40, 56)
4. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Powers of the Commission — Limit — Observance of the principle of proportionality — Request for information already in the possession of the Commission — Infringement of the said principle — Request for further clarification of information previously supplied — Lawfulness (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(3)) (see paras 67-69, 71, 74)
5. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Powers of the Commission — Limit — Requirement of a necessary link between the information requested and the infringement investigated — Public nature of the information requested (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(1)) (see paras 84, 85)
6. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Powers of the Commission — Power to issue a request involving the marshalling of the information sought — Limits (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18) (see paras 100, 101)
7. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Procedures — Choice to be made between a simple request for information and a decision — Observance of the principle of proportionality — Judicial review (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(1) to (3)) (see paras 109-112)
8. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Powers of the Commission — Limit — Observance of the principle of proportionality — Time limit for reply notified to the undertaking — Assessment of proportionality (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(3)) (see paras 122, 132-135)
9. European Union — Rules on languages — Documents sent by the institutions — Addressee — Registered office in a non-member country — Relationship with a Member State — Official language of that Member State (Council Regulations No 1/1958, Art. 3, and No 1/2003) (see para. 148)
Re:
| ACTION for annulment of Commission Decision C(2011) 2360 final of 30 March 2011, in the context of a procedure pursuant to Article 18(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (Case COMP/39520 — cement and related products). |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Cemex SAB. De CV, New Sunward Holding BV, Cemex España, SA, Cemex Deutschland AG, Cemex UK, Cemex Czech Operations s.r.o., Cemex France Gestion and Cemex Austria AG to pay the costs. |