Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 15 January 2015 — Ziegler and Ziegler Relocation v Commission
(Joined Cases T‑539/12 and T‑150/13)
Non-contractual liability — Competition — International removal services market in Belgium — Removals of officials and other staff of the EU — Decision finding an infringement of Article 101 TFEU — Cover quotes — Scope of liability of an institution — Principle of res judicata — Due diligence — Causal link
1. Judicial proceedings — Res judicata — Scope (Arts 268 TFEU and 340, second para., TFEU) (see paras 37, 38)
2. Actions for damages — Autonomy in relation to the action for annulment — Limits — Action seeking the withdrawal of an individual decision which has become definitive — Inadmissibility (Arts 268 TFEU and 340, second para., TFEU) (see paras 40-43)
3. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — Cumulative conditions — No obligation on the court to examine in a given order (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see paras 59, 60)
4. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Causal link — Damage resulting from failure of an institution to act — Burden of proof (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see paras 63-66, 90)
5. Non-contractual liability — Compensation for damage caused by EU servants in the performance of their duties — Activity not included in the performance of the duties of that servant — No liability (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see paras 72, 73)
6. Actions for damages — Autonomous form of action — Exhaustion of national rights of action — Application in EU competition law (Arts 101(1) TFEU, 268 TFEU and 340, second para., TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 7(1)) (see paras 84, 85, 88)
7. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Sufficiently serious breach of EU law — Infringement of the principle of sound administration — Infringement of the principle of sound administration — Inclusion (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see paras 94, 96, 97)
8. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Omissions of EU institutions — Requirement that a legal duty to act be disregarded (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see para. 95)
Re:
| ACTION seeking compensation for damage allegedly caused by the adoption of Commission Decision C(2008) 926 final of 11 March 2008 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 EC and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/38.543 — International Removal Services), and for damage allegedly caused by the continuation of the practice of ‘cover quotes’ after the adoption of Decision C(2008) 926, between 11 March 2008 and 1 January 2014. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Ziegler SA to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission in Case T‑539/12; |
3. | | Orders Ziegler Relocation SA to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission in Case T‑150/13. |