Notice for the OJ

 

    

Action brought on 17 April 2002 by Royal Philips Electronics N.V. against the Commission of the European Communities

    (Case T-119/02)

    Language of the case: English

An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 17 April 2002 by Royal Philips Electronics N.V., represented by Mr E.H. Pijnacker Hordijk and Ms N. Cronstedt of De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, The Hague (The Netherlands).

The applicant claims that the Court should:

listnum "WP List 1" \l 1annul the Approval Decision and the Referral Decision;

listnum "WP List 1" \l 1order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

The applicant in the present case, a Dutch company active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, electrical household appliances, components, semiconductors and medical systems, seeks the annulment of two Decisions by the Commission of 8 January 2002 in case COMP/M.2621 - SEB/Moulinex, regarding the acquisition by Group SEB of the small electrical appliances business of SA Moulinex under, respectively, Article 9(3) (the referral Decision) and Article 6(1)(b) and (2) (the approval Decision) of Regulation No 4064/89, of 21 December 1989, on the control of concentrations between undertakings¹. The same merger procedure is also the subject of Case T-114/02 Babyliss/Commission².

In support of its pleas, the applicant submits that:

- the Commission has breached Article 6(1)(c) and 6(2) of Regulation No 4064/89 and committed a manifest error in assessing the relevant facts of the case, in that it approved the notified concentration in the first phase of its investigation accepting the commitments offered by SEB.

- the Commission has breached Articles 6(1)(c), 6(2) and 9(3) of Regulation No 4064/89, Article 253 EC, and the principles of proper administration, in that it has referred the case to the French authorities with regard to the impact of the acquisition on the French market, instead of dealing with the case in full itself.

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¹ - OJ 1990 L 257, p. 13.

² - Not yet published in the OJ.