Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 13 December 2012 — Versalis and Eni v Commission

(Case T‑103/08)

Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Chloroprene rubber market — Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC — Price fixing and market sharing — Attributability of the unlawful conduct — Duty to state reasons — Rights of the defence — Evidence of involvement in the cartel — Single and continuous infringement — Fines — Gravity and duration of the infringement — Repeat offending — Deterrence — Attenuating circumstances — Maximum turnover limit of 10% — Cooperation — 2002 Leniency Notice — Equal treatment — Proportionality

1.                     Competition — Union rules — Infringements — Attribution — Parent company and subsidiaries — Economic unit — Criteria for assessment — Presumption that a parent company exerts a decisive influence over its wholly-owned subsidiaries — Evidential obligations of the company seeking to rebut that presumption (Arts 81 EC and 82 EC) (see paras 53-59, 61, 62, 67-70, 73-77, 269, 271, 276)

2.                     Competition — Union rules — Infringements — Attribution — ‘Economic continuity’ criterion between undertakings — Infringement committed by a body not seizing to exist and continued by another body succeeding it in the business on the market concerned — Attribution of the whole of the infringement to that other body — Lawfulness (Arts 81 EC and 82 EC) (see paras 89, 90, 93-98, 105)

3.                     Actions for annulment — Actionable measures — Grounds of a decision — Not included (Art. 230 EC) (see paras 106, 111, 112)

4.                     Competition — Administrative procedure — Statement of objections — Necessary content — Observance of the rights of the defence — Indication of the main factual and legal elements likely to entail a fine (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 27) (see paras 114, 273)

5.                     Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Evidence — Degree of precision required of the evidence used by the Commission — Burden of proof (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 147-157)

6.                     Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Prohibition — Infringements — Agreements and concerted practices capable of being regarded as constituting a single infringement — Attribution of liability for an undertaking by reason of participation in the infringement considered as a whole — Lawfulness — Anti-competitive object — Sufficient (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 209-211)

7.                     Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Criteria — Gravity of the infringement — Discretion of the Commission (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notice 2006/C 210/02(5) to (7) and (19) to (23)) (see paras 229-242)

8.                     Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Turnover taken into consideration — Reference year — Last complete year of the infringement (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notice 2006/C 210/02(13)) (see paras 243-245)

9.                     Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Deterrent effect — General requirement having to guide the Commission throughout the calculation of fines — Specific stage for an overall assessment of all relevant circumstances not imperative (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notice 2006/C 210/02(21) to (30)) (see paras 246-250, 316, 317)

10.                     Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Criteria — Gravity of the infringement — Aggravating circumstances — Repeated infringement — Concept — No time-limit — Discretion of the Commission (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notice 2006/C 210/02(28)) (see paras 263-268, 283-286)

11.                     Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Criteria — Mitigating circumstances — Assessment — No need to take separate account of each of the circumstances — Global assessment (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notice 2006/C 210/02(29)) (see paras 296-300, 306, 307)

12.                     Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Deterrent effect — Application of an incorrect multiplying coefficient — Breach of the principle of equal treatment (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notice 2006/C 210/02(30)) (see paras 318, 324-326)

13.                     Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Criteria — Reduction in the amount of the fine in return for cooperation of the undertaking concerned — Conditions — Discretion of the Commission (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notice 2002/C 45/03(8), (20) and (21), and 2006/C 210/02(29), fourth indent) (see paras 335-338, 350-360, 364)

Re:

ACTION for the partial annulment of Commission Decision C(2007) 5910 final of 5 December 2007 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/38629 — Chloroprene rubber), in so far as it concerns the applicants, and, in the alternative, a request for annulment or reduction of the level of the fine imposed jointly on the applicants by that decision.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Fixes the level of the fine imposed jointly and severally on Eni SpA and Versalis SpA for the offence stated in Article 1(d) of Commission Decision C(2007) 5910 final of 5 December 2007 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/38629 — Chloroprene rubber) at EUR 106 200 000;

2. Dismisses the remainder of the action;

3. Orders Eni and Versalis to bear four fifths of their costs and four fifths of the costs of the European Commission and orders the Commission to bear one fifth of its own costs and one fifth of the costs of Eni and Versalis.