Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 13 December 2006 - FNCBV and Others v Commission

(Joined Cases T-217/03 and T-245/03) ¹

(Competition - Article 81(1) EC - Beef and veal - Suspension of imports - Fixing of a trade union price scale - Regulation No 26 - Associations of undertakings - Restriction of competition - Trade union action - Affecting of trade between Member States - Duty to state reasons - Guidelines on the method of setting fines - Principle of proportionality - Gravity and duration of the infringement - Aggravating and mitigating circumstances - Non-aggregation of penalties - Rights of the defence)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicants: in Case T-217/03, Fédération nationale de la coopération bétail et viande (FNCBV) (Paris, France) (represented by: R. Collin, M. Ponsard and N. Decker, lawyers), and in Case T-245/03, Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (FNSEA) (Paris); Fédération nationale bovine (FNB) (Paris); Fédération nationale des producteurs de lait (FNPL) (Paris); and Jeunes agriculteurs (JA) (Paris) (represented by: B. Neouze and V. Ledoux, lawyers)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: P. Oliver, A. Bouquet and O. Beynet, Agents)

Intervener in support of the applicants: French Republic (represented by: initially G. de Bergues, F. Million and R. Abraham, subsequently G. de Bergues, E. Belliard and S. Ramet, lawyers)

Re:

Applications for annulment of Commission Decision 2003/600/EC of 2 April 2003 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/C.38.279/F3 - French beef) (OJ 2003 L 209, p. 12) and, in the alternative, for cancellation or reduction of the fines thereby imposed.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Sets the amount of the fine imposed on the Fédération nationale de la coopération bétail et viande, the applicant in Case T-217/03, at EUR 360 000;

Sets the amount of the fines imposed on the applicants in Case T-245/03 at EUR 9 000 000 for the Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles, EUR 1 080 000 for the Fédération nationale bovine, EUR 1 080 000 for the Fédération nationale des producteurs de lait and EUR 450 000 for the Jeunes agriculteurs;

Dismisses the remainder of the application;

Orders the applicants to bear their own costs incurred in the main proceedings, together with three-quarters of the costs incurred by the Commission in those proceedings;

Orders the Commission to bear one-quarter of its own costs incurred in the main proceedings and to pay all costs relating to the applications for interim measures;

Orders the French Republic to bear its own costs.

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¹ - OJ C 200, 23.8.2003.