Judgment of the Court of First Instance (Seventh Chamber) of 30 September 2009 – Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission 

(Case T-175/05)

Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Market for monochloroacetic acid – Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC – Action for annulment – Admissibility – Market sharing and price fixing – Attributability of the infringement – Fines – Obligation to state the reasons on which the decision is based – Gravity and duration of the infringement – Deterrent effect

1.                     Actions for annulment – Community law – Action brought by several companies in a group against a Commission decision fining them jointly and severally – Action admissible in relation to some of those entities – No need to adjudicate on a plea of inadmissibility raised against certain others not capable of benefiting from a possible annulment(Art. 230 EC) (see paras 46-47)

2.                     Competition – Community rules – Infringements – Attribution – Parent company and subsidiaries – Economic unit – Criteria for assessment – Presumption of decisive influence exercised by the parent company over its wholly‑owned subsidiaries – Obligation of the parent company to rebut the presumption that management power was actually exercised over its subsidiary (Arts 81 EC and 82 EC) (see paras 91-93, 96)

3.                     Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Maximum amount – Calculation – Turnover to be taken into consideration – Cumulative turnover of all the companies constituting the economic unit acting as an undertaking (Art. 81 EC; Council Regulations Nos 17, Art. 15, and 1/2003, Art. 23) (see paras 114, 132-133)

4.                     Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Turnover taken into consideration – Reference year – Last full year of the infringement(Council Regulations Nos 17, Art. 15, and 1/2003, Art. 23) (see paras 142-143)

5.                     Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Deterrent effect – Account taken of the size and global resources of the fined undertaking (Council Regulations Nos 17, Art. 15, and 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Communication 98/C 9/03, Section 1A) (see paras 154-155)

Re:

Operative part

The Court: