Competition - Agreement between members of a liner conference and independent shipping companies - Charges and surcharges - Legal basis - Ryegulation (EEC) No 4056/86 - Regulation (EEC) No 1017/68 - Relevant market - Proof of infringement - Limitation period - Fine.

«(Competition – Agreement between members of a liner conference and independent shipping companies – Charges and surcharges – Legal basis – Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 – Regulation (EEC) No 1017/68 – Relevant market – Proof of infringement – Limitation period – Fine)» Summary of the Judgment 1.. Acts of the institutions – Choice of legal basis – Action on several legal bases – Inadequacy of certain legal bases relied on – Not relevant where there are no adverse consequences for the addressee of the act 2.. Competition – Maritime transport – Regulation No 4056/86 – Horizontal price-fixing agreements between the members of a liner conference and independent companies – Prohibition – Inapplicability of the block exemption in favour of such agreements entered into by the members of a liner conference (Art. 81(1)(a) EC; Council Regulations No 1017/68, Art. 2(a), and No 4056/86, Art. 3) 3.. Competition – Administrative procedure – Observance of the rights of the defence – Statement of objections – Necessary content (Council Regulations No 17, Art. 19(1), No 1017/68, Art. 26(1), and No 4056/86, Art. 23(1)) 4.. Competition – Administrative procedure – Observance of the rights of the defence – Whether the parties involved have a right to express an opinion regarding the way in which their own arguments have been taken into account – No such right 5.. Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Adverse effect on competition  – Agreement between shipping companies prohibiting the grant of discount on published rates for charges and surcharges – Anti-competitive object and appreciable effect – Intention to restrict competition and effective application of the agreement – Irrelevant (Art. 81(1)(a) EC; Council Regulation No 1017/68, Art. 2(a)) 6.. Actions for annulment – Actionable measures – Definition – Measures affecting a particular legal situation – Action directed solely against the statement of reasons for a measure – Whether admissible (Art. 230 EC) 7.. Competition – Administrative procedure – Decision finding that there has been an infringement – Obligation to define the relevant market – Scope (Art. 81 EC) 8.. Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Agreements between undertakings – Effect on trade between Member States – Criteria – Insignificant effect on market – Agreement not prohibited (Art. 81(1) EC) 9.. Competition – Transport – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Prohibition – Exemption – Cumulative conditions for grant – Effect on the obligation to define the relevant markets (Art. 81(3) EC; Council Regulation No 1017/68, Art. 5) 10.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Criteria defined in the Commission Guidelines – Applicability to infringements of the competition rules in the transport sector (ECSC Treaty, Art. 65(5); Council Regulations No 17, Art. 15(2), No 1017/68, Art. 22(2), and No 4056/86, Art. 19(2)) 11.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Commission's discretion – Judicial review – Unlimited jurisdiction – Effect (Art. 229 EC; Council Regulations No 17, Art. 17, No 1017/68, Art. 24, and No 4056/86, Art. 21) 12.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Calculation method set out in the Commission's Guidelines – Commission decision to apply that method in a particular case – Consequences – Obligation to state reasons in respect of all infringements (ECSC Treaty, Art. 65(5); Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2)) 13.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Criteria – Duration of the infringements – Agreement penalised because of its anti-competitive object regardless of its effects – Consideration of the duration of the agreement without regard to its non-application (Council Regulations No 17, Art. 15(2), No 1017/68, Art. 22(2), and No 4056/86, Art. 19(2)) 14.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Criteria – Gravity of the infringements – Mitigating circumstances – Non-application of the agreement – Consideration of that mitigating circumstance when assessing the gravity of the infringement – Whether permissible (ECSC Treaty, Art. 65(5); Council Regulations No 17, Art. 15(2), No 1017/68, Art. 22(2), and No 4056/86, Art. 19(2)) 15.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Criteria – Cooperation by the undertaking during the administrative procedure – Definition (Council Regulation No 17, Art. 11(4) and (5)) 16.. Competition – Administrative procedure  – Commission's obligations  – Requirement to act within a reasonable time (Council Regulations No 17, No 1017/68 and No 4056/86) 17.. Competition – Administrative procedure – Limitation period for fines – Exclusive application of Regulation No 2988/74 – Inapplicability of factors connected to the requirement to act within a reasonable period (Council Regulation No 2988/74, Art. 2(1) and (3)) 18.. Competition – Fines – Imposition – Condition that the undertaking derive a benefit from the infringement – No such condition (ECSC Treaty, Art. 65(5); Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2)) 19.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Criteria – Financial situation of the undertaking concerned – May be taken into consideration – Whether obligatory – No such obligation (Council Regulations No 17, Art. 15(2), No 1017/68, Art. 22(2), and No 4056/86, Art. 19(2)) 20.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Criteria – Gravity of the infringements – Mitigating circumstances – Whether Commission obliged to abide by its previous decision-making practice – No such obligation (Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15) 21.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Division of an overall amount between different groups of undertakings formed on the basis of the size of the activity of the undertakings committing the infringement in the sector concerned – Whether permissible – Conditions (Council Regulations No 17, Art. 15(2), No 1017/68, Art. 22(2), and No 4056/86, Art. 19(2)) 22.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Criteria – Gravity of the infringement – Assessment on the basis of the total turnover of the undertaking – Whether permissible – Consideration of the individual role of each undertaking (Council Regulations No 17, Art. 15(2), No 1017/68, Art. 22(2), and No 4056/86, Art. 19(2)) 23.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Criteria – Gravity of the infringement – Assessment in the light of the economic situation at the time when the infringement was committed (Art. 81(1) EC; Council Regulations No 17, Art. 15(2), No 1017/68, Art. 22(2), and No 4056/86, Art. 19(2)) 24.. Competition – Administrative procedure – Limitation periods in proceedings – Interruption – Request for information – Condition – Need for the existence of a connection between the information requested and the infringement under investigation (Council Regulations No 17, Art. 11(1), No 1017/68, Art. 19, No 2988/74, Arts. 1(1)(b) and 2(1)(a) and (3), and No 4056/86, Art. 16) JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (Third Chamber)19 March 2003 (1) ((Competition – Agreement between members of a liner conference and independent shipping companies – Charges and surcharges – Legal basis – Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 – Regulation (EEC) No 1017/68 – Relevant market – Proof of infringement – Limitation period – Fine)) applicants, v defendant, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (Third Chamber), having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 2 May 2002, gives the following On those grounds, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (Third Chamber) Jaeger Lenaerts Azizi H. Jung K. Lenaerts Registrar President 1 – Language of the case: English.