Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 26 April 2007 - Bolloré and Others v Commission
(Joined Cases T-109/02, T-118/02, T-122/02, T-125/02, T-126/02, T-128/02, T-129/02, T-132/02 and T-136/02) 1 (Competition - Cartels − Carbonless paper - Guidelines on the method of setting fines - Duration of the infringement - Gravity of the infringement - Increase for deterrence - Aggravating circumstances - Mitigating circumstances - Leniency Notice)
Languages of the case: Spanish, German, English and French
Parties
Applicant in Case T-109/02: Bolloré SA (Puteaux, France) (represented by: R. Saint-Esteben and H. Calvet, lawyers)
Applicant in Case T-118/02: Arjo Wiggins Appleton Ltd (Basingstoke, United Kingdom) (represented by: F. Brunet, lawyer, J. Temple Lang, Solicitor, and J. Grierson, Barrister)
Applicant in Case T-122/02: Mitsubishi HiTec Paper Bielefeld GmbH, formerly Stora Carbonless Paper GmbH (Bielefeld, Germany) (represented by: I. van Bael, lawyer, and A. Kmiecik, Solicitor)
Applicant in Case T-125/02: Papierfabrik August Koehler AG (Oberkirch, Germany) (represented by: I. Brinker and S. Hirsbrunner, lawyers)
Applicant in Case T-126/02: M-real Zanders GmbH, formerly Zanders Feinpapiere AG (Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) (represented by: J. Burrichter and M. Wirtz, lawyers)
Applicant in Case T-128/02: Papeteries Mougeot SA (Laval-sur-Vologne, France) (represented initially by G. Barsi, J. Baumgartner and J.-P. Hordies, and subsequently by Messrs Barsi and Baumgartner, lawyers)
Applicant in Case T-129/02: Torraspapel, SA (Barcelona, Spain) (represented by: O. Brouwer, F. Cantos and C. Schillemans, lawyers)
Applicant in Case T-132/02: Distribuidora Vizcaína de Papeles, SL (Derio, Spain) (represented by: E. Pérez Medrano and I. Delgado González, lawyers)
Applicant in Case T-136/02: Papelera Guipuzcoana de Zicuñaga, SA (Hernani, Spain) (represented by I. Quintana Aguirre, lawyer)
Defendant: Commission of the European Communities (represented, in Cases T-109/02 and T-128/02, by W. Mölls and F. Castillo de la Torre, acting as Agents, assisted by N. Coutrelis, lawyer, in Cases T-118/02 and T-129/02, by W. Mölls and A. Whelan, assisted by M. van der Woude, lawyer, in Case T-122/02, initially by R. Wainwright and W. Mölls, and subsequently by R. Wainwright and A. Whelan, Agents, in Cases T-125/02 and T-126/02, by W. Mölls and F. Castillo de la Torre, assisted by H.-J. Freund, lawyer, in Cases T-132/02 and T-136/02, by W. Mölls and F. Castillo de la Torre, assisted by J. Rivas Andrés and J. Gutiérrez Gisbert, lawyers)
Intervener in support of the applicant in Case T-118/02: Kingdom of Belgium (represented by: A. Snoecx and M. Wimmer, Agents)
Re:
Annulment of Commission Decision 2004/337/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/E-1/36.212 - Carbonless paper) (OJ 2004 L 115, p. 1) or, in the alternative, reduction in the fine imposed on the applicants by that decision.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
In Case T-109/02 Bolloré v Commission:
dismisses the action;
orders the applicant to pay the costs.
In Case T-118/02 Arjo Wiggins Appleton v Commission:
sets the amount of the fine imposed on the applicant by Article 3 of Commission Decision 2004/337/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/E-1/36.212 − Carbonless paper) at EUR 141.75 million;
dismisses the remainder of the action;
orders the applicant to bear two thirds of its own costs and pay two thirds of the costs incurred by the Commission and the Commission to bear one third of its own costs and pay one third of those incurred by the applicant;
orders the intervener to bear its own costs and to pay those of the Commission related to the intervention.
In Case T-122/02 Mitsubishi HiTec Paper Bielefeld v Commission:
dismisses the action;
orders the applicant to pay the costs.
In Case T-125/02 Papierfabrik August Koehler v Commission:
dismisses the action;
orders the applicant to pay the costs.
In Case T-126/02 M-real Zanders v Commission:
dismisses the action;
orders the applicant to pay the costs.
In Case T-128/02 Papeteries Mougeot v Commission:
dismisses the action;
orders the applicant to pay the costs.
In Case T-129/02 Torraspapel v Commission:
dismisses the action;
orders the applicant to pay the costs.
In Case T-132/02 Distribuidora Vizcaína de Papeles v Commission:
dismisses the action;
orders the applicant to pay the costs.
In Case T-136/02 Papelera Guipuzcoana de Zicuñaga v Commission:
sets the amount of the fine imposed on the applicant by Article 3 of Commission Decision 2004/337/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/E-1/36.212 − Carbonless paper) at EUR 1.309 million;
dismisses the remainder of the action;
orders the applicant to bear two thirds of its own costs and pay two thirds of the costs incurred by the Commission and the Commission to bear one third of its own costs and pay one third of those incurred by the applicant.
____________1 - OJ C 131, 1.6.2002.