Competition - Article 81 EC - Distribution agreements.

«(Competition – Article 81 EC – Distribution agreements)» Summary of the Judgment 1.. Competition – Administrative procedure – Obligations of the Commission – Action to be taken within a reasonable time – Infringement of principle – Consequences (Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union, Art. 41(1); Council Regulation No 17) 2.. Competition – Administrative procedure – Obligations of the Commission – Respect for the principle of presumption of innocence – Scope 3.. Competition – Administrative procedure – Access to the file – Purpose – Observance of the rights of the defence – Infringement – Consequences (Council Regulation No 17, Art. 19(1); Commission Regulation No 99/63, Arts 3 and 7 to 9) 4.. Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Notification – Effects – Scope – Contracts with identical terms to that properly notified – Reinforcement or extension of restrictions or introduction of new restrictions – Fresh formal notification required (Council Regulation No 17) 5.. Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Adverse effect on competition – Selective distribution system – Clauses prohibiting passive sales by authorised distributors – Unlawful (Art. 81(1) EC) 6.. Competition – Community rules – Application by the Commission – Not influenced by the application of similar national rules by a national authority (Arts 81 EC and 82 EC) 7.. Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Adverse effect on competition – Criteria for assessment – Anti-competitive object – Sufficient to establish the existence thereof (Art. 81(1) EC) 8.. Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Selective distribution system – Limitation of price competition – Extent (Art. 81(1) EC) 9.. Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Prohibition – Exemption – Conditions – Burden of proof – Cumulative nature of the exemption conditions (Art. 81(3) EC) 10.. Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Prohibited – Block exemption – Regulation No 123/85 – Regulation No 1475/95 – Scope – Construction site machinery – Excluded (Commission Regulations Nos 123/85, Art. 1, and 1475/95, Art. 1) 11.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Criteria – Gravity of the infringements – Judicial review (Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2)) 12.. Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Commission's discretion – Comparisons of facts of different cases – Indicative – Comparisons in terms of turnover – Amount of fines imposed on different undertakings corresponding to different percentages of their respective turnovers – Breach of the principle of equal treatment – None (Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2)) JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (First Chamber)13 January 2004 (1) ((Competition – Article 81 EC – Distribution agreements)) applicant, v defendant, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (First Chamber), having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 22 January 2003, gives the following On those grounds, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (First Chamber), Vesterdorf Azizi Legal H. Jung B. Vesterdorf Registrar President 1 – Language of the case: English.