Judgment of the General Court of 19 May 2010 - KME Germany and Others v Commission
(Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Copper plumbing tube industry - Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC - Fines - Actual impact on the market - Size of the relevant market - Duration of the infringement - Ability to pay - Cooperation)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicants: KME Germany AG, formerly KM Europa Metal AG (Osnabrück, Germany); KME France SAS, formerly Tréfimétaux SA (Courbevoie, France); and KME Italy SpA, formerly Europa Metalli SpA (Florence, Italy) (represented by: M. Siragusa, A. Winckler, G.C. Rizza, T. Graf, M. Piergiovanni, lawyers, and R. Elderkin, Barrister)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: É. Gippini Fournier, S. Noë and C. Thomas, Agents)
Re:
Application, first, for reduction of the fines imposed on the applicants under Article 2(g), (h) and (i) of Commission Decision C(2004) 2826 of 3 September 2004 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/E-1/38.069 - Copper plumbing tubes) and, second, by way of counterclaim by the Commission, for those fines to be increased.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Dismisses the European Commission's counterclaim;
Orders KME Germany AG, KME France SAS and KME Italy Spa to bear their own costs and to pay 50% of the costs incurred by the Commission;
Orders the Commission to bear 50% of its own costs.
____________1 - OJ C 82, 2.4.2005.