Order of the President of the General Court of 15 July 2011 – Fapricela v Commission
(Case T-398/10 R)
Application for interim measures – Competition – Decision of the Commission imposing a fine – Bank guarantee – Application to suspend operation – Financial damage – Lack of exceptional circumstances – Lack of urgency
1. Applications for interim measures – Suspension of operation of a measure – Interim measures – Conditions for granting – Serious and irreparable damage – Burden of proof – Financial loss – Situation which could jeopardise the existence of the applicant company (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 104(2)) (see paras 15-17)
2. Applications for interim measures – Suspension of operation of a measure – Suspension of the obligation to constitute a bank guarantee as a condition for not proceeding to immediate recovery of a fine for breach of the competition rules – Conditions for granting – Exceptional circumstances – Burden of proof (Art. 278 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 104(2)) (see paras 22-24)
3. Applications for interim measures – Suspension of operation of a measure – Suspension of the obligation to constitute a bank guarantee as a condition for not requiring immediate recovery of a fine – Conditions for granting – Exceptional circumstances – Burden of proof – Refusal of banks to provide such a bank guarantee – Admissibility as evidence of an objective impossibility of obtaining such a financial instrument – Duty to provide concrete and precise indications supported by detailed and certified documentary evidence (Art. 278 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 104(2)) (see paras 26-28)
4. Applications for interim measures – Suspension of operation of a measure – Suspension of the obligation to constitute a bank guarantee as a condition for not proceeding to immediate recovery of a fine – Conditions for granting – Exceptional circumstances – Taking into account of the position of the group to which the undertaking belongs and of its shareholders – Burden of proof (Art. 278 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 104(2)) (see paras 31-32, 34-35)
5. Applications for interim measures – Suspension of operation of a measure – Interim measures – Conditions for granting – Urgency – Account to be taken of a lack of diligence on the part of the applicant (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 104(2)) (see para. 43)
Re:
| APPLICATION to suspend the operation of Commission Decision C(2010) 4387 final of 30 June 2010 relating to a proceeding under Article 101 TFEU and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/38.344 – Pre-stressing steel), inter alia in so far as it imposes the obligation to set up a bank guarantee in order to avoid immediate recovery of the fine imposed under Article 2 of that decision. |
Operative part
1. | | 1. The application for interim measures is dismissed. |