Judgment of the General Court of 19 May 2010 - Wieland-Werke and Others v Commission
(Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Copper plumbing tube industry - Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC - Continuous and multiform infringement - Ne bis in idem principle - Fines - Actual impact on the market - Size of the relevant market - Duration of the infringement - Attenuating circumstances)
Language of the case: German
Parties
Applicants: Wieland-Werke AG (Ulm, Germany); Buntmetall Amstetten GmbH (Amstetten, Austria); and Austria Buntmetall AG (Enzesfeld, Austria); (represented by: R. Bechtold and U. Soltész, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: F. Castillo de la Torre and É. Gippini Fournier, Agents, and by G. Eickstädt, lawyer)
Intervener in support of the defendant: Council of the European Union (represented by: J. Huber and G. Kimberley, Agents)
Re:
Application, first, for annulment 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); second, in the alternative, for reduction of the fines imposed on the applicants by that decision; and third, 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 Wieland-Werke AG, Buntmetall Amstetten GmbH and Austria Buntmetall AG to bear their own costs and to pay 90% of the costs incurred by the Commission;
Orders the Commission to bear 10% of its own costs;
Orders the Council of the European Union to bear its own costs.
____________1 - OJ C 93, 16.4.2005.