Competition - Concentrations - Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 - Action brought by a third party - Admissibility - Commitments in the course of the first phase of examination - Trade mark licence - Modification of commitments - Time-limits - Financial aid by the State - Nominal purchase price - Serious doubts as to the compatibility of the concentration with the common market - Absence of commitment on markets with serious competition problems.

«(Competition – Concentrations – Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 – Action brought by a third party – Admissibility – Commitments in the course of the first phase of examination – Trade mark licence – Modification of commitments – Time-limits – Financial aid by the State – Nominal purchase price – Serious doubts as to the compatibility of the concentration with the common market – Absence of commitment on markets with serious competition problems)» Summary of the Judgment 1.. Actions for annulment – Natural or legal persons – Measures of direct and individual concern to them – Decision declaring a concentration compatible with the common market – Third-party undertaking which actively participated in the administrative procedure and which has the status of a potential competitor – Whether admissible (Art. 230, fourth para., EC) 2.. Competition – Concentrations – Administrative procedure – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned – Modifications notified after the time-limit – Account taken by the Commission of the modified commitments in order to find the concentration compatible with the common market – Whether permissible – Conditions (Commission Regulation No 447/98, Art. 18(1); Commission Notice on remedies acceptable under Regulations No 4064/89 and No 447/98, para. 37) 3.. Competition – Concentrations – Investigation by the Commission – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned likely to make the notified concentration compatible with the common market – Nature of commitments allowing the Commission to refrain from initiating the Phase II procedure – Commitments excluding all serious doubts – Behavioural commitments – Whether included (Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 6(1); Commission Notice on remedies acceptable under Regulations No 4064/89 and No 447/98) 4.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned likely to make the notified concentration compatible – Concentration between undertakings active on the markets for small electrical household appliances – Commitment to grant trade-mark licences – Remedy for competition problems raised by the concentration – Conditions (Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 8(2)) 5.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned likely to make the notified concentration compatible – Concentration between undertakings active on the markets for small electrical household appliances – Commitment to grant trade-mark licences – Limited obligation to obtain supplies imposed on one licensee – Whether permissible – Conditions (Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 8(2)) 6.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – No dominant position impeding competition created or strengthened – Assessment criteria – Absence of a significant overlap between the parties to a concentration – Relevance – Limits (Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 2(2) and (3)) 7.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – No dominant position impeding competition created or strengthened – Assessment criteria – Presence of competitors – Relevance dependent on strength of competitors (Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 2(2) and (3)) 8.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – No dominant position impeding competition created or strengthened – Independent assessment of the various markets for the products concerned – Limits – Need to take account of the overall competition situation and the factors liable to strengthen the economic power of the entity arising from the concentration – Failure to establish the absence of serious risks in the case of a concentration of the turnover of the entity arising from the concentration on the sectors not dominated (Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 2(2) and (3)) 9.. Procedure – Intervention – Plea in law not raised by the applicant – Inadmissible (EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 37, third and fourth paras; Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 116(3)) 10.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned likely to make the notified concentration compatible with the common market – Requirement of compatibility with Article 81 EC – Commitment to grant trade-mark licences containing a clause requiring the licensee to concentrate sales on the territory of a Member State – Whether permissible (Art. 81(1) and (3) EC; Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 2(1)) JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (Third Chamber)3 April 2003 (1) ((Competition – Concentrations – Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 – Action brought by a third party – Admissibility – Commitments in the course of the first phase of examination – Trade mark licence – Modification of commitments – Time-limits – Financial aid by the State – Nominal purchase price – Serious doubts as to the compatibility of the concentration with the common market – Absence of commitment on markets with serious competition problems)) applicant, intervener, v defendant, intervener, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (Third Chamber), having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 9 October 2002, gives the following On those grounds, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (Third Chamber) Lenaerts Azizi Jaeger H. Jung K. Lenaerts Registrar President 1 – Language of the case: French.