Notice for the OJ

 

    

Action brought on 5 April 2002 by Ineos NV against the Commission of the European Communities

    (Case T-101/02)

    Language of the case: English

An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 5 April 2002 by Ineos NV, represented by Mr Julian Ellison, Mr Mark Clough QC and Mr Matthew Hall of Ashurst Morris Crisp, Brussels (Belgium).

The applicant claims that the Court should:

listnum "WP List 1" \l 1annul under Article 230 of the EC Treaty the Commission Decision in case no. COMP/M.2533-BP/E.ON in its entirety and/or insofar it concerns the market for the supply of merchant ethylene;

listnum "WP List 2" \l 1order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

The applicant in the present case is a purchaser of merchant ethylene on the ARG+ pipeline network in Belgium, the Netherlands and western Germany.

The applicant contests the Decision of the Commission declaring an operation where BP, together with E.ON, would acquire joint control of Veba Oel under certain conditions compatible with the common market and the EEA Agreement. These conditions were necessary since the operation gave rise to substantial competition concerns on the ARG+ merchant ethylene market. In particular, there was a risk of creating a joint dominant position of BP/Veba Oel and Shell/DEA (case no. COMP/M. 2389-Shell/DEA¹).

The decisions in the BP/E.ON case is closely related to the decision in the Shell/DEA case. These cases were treated similarly and the remedies imposed in each case are only effective if the remedies in the other case are operative as well. Therefore, the applicant puts forward the same arguments as in Case T-99/02.

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¹ - Under the operation examined by the Commission in this case, Deutsche Shell would acquire sole control of the undertaking DEA Mineraloel. The decision in case nr COMP/M. 2389-Shell/DEA is also contested by this Applicant in Case T-99/02.