Judgment of the General Court of 13 September 2013 – Total v Commission

(Case T-548/08) ¹

(Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Paraffin waxes market – Slack wax market – Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC – Price-fixing and market-sharing – Rights of the defence – Principle of the legality of criminal offences and penalties – Presumption of innocence – Attributability of the unlawful conduct – Liability of a parent company for infringements of the competition rules committed by its subsidiaries – Decisive influence exercised by the parent company – Presumption where the parent company holds nearly 100% of the shares)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Total SA (Courbevoie, France) (represented by: É. Morgan de Rivery and A. Noël-Baron, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: F. Castillo de la Torre and É. Gippini Fournier, acting as Agents)

Re:

Primarily, application for annulment of Commission Decision C(2008) 5476 final of 1 October 2008, relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/39.181 – Candle waxes), and, in the alternative, application for annulment or reduction of the fine imposed on the applicant.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Dismisses the action;

Orders Total SA to bear its own costs and to pay those of the European Commission.

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¹ OJ C 44, 21.2.2009.