1. 

Acts of the institutions—Obligation to state reasons—Purpose—Scope

(Art. 253 EC)

(see para. 18)

2. 

Appeal—Grounds—Mistaken assessment of the facts—Inadmissibility—Review by the Court of the assessment of the facts and evidence—Possible only where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted

(Art. 256(1) TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.)

(see paras 30-32, 98, 99)

3. 

Competition—EU rules—Infringements—Attribution—Imputability to an undertaking of the conduct of its organs—Conditions—Action of a person authorised to act on behalf of the undertaking

(Art. 81 EC)

(see paras 33, 34)

4. 

Competition—Agreements, decisions and concerted practices—Concerted practice—Definition

(Art. 81(1) EC)

(see paras 37, 41)

5. 

Competition—Administrative procedure—Commission decision finding an infringement—Burden of proving the infringement and its duration on the Commission—Extent of the burden of proof—Proof adduced by a number of indicia and coincidences pointing to the existence and duration of continuous anti-competitive practices—Lawfulness

(Art. 81 EC)

(see paras 38-40)

6. 

Judicial proceedings—Measures of inquiry—Hearing of witnesses—Discretion of the General Court—Relevance of the principle of the right to a fair process

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47)

(see paras 44, 45)

7. 

Appeal—Grounds—Plea submitted for the first time in the context of the appeal—Inadmissibility

(Art. 256(1) TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.)

(see paras 54-56)

8. 

Acts of the institutions—Guidelines on the method of setting fines for infringements of the competition rules—Measure of general scope—Effects

(Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2); Commission Communication 2006/C 210/02, point 15)

(see paras 57, 58)

9. 

Competition—Fines—Amount—Determination—Maximum amount—Calculation—Turnover to be taken into consideration—Cumulative turnover of all the companies forming an economic entity acting as an undertaking

(Art. 81(1) EC; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2))

(see paras 61)

10. 

Competition—Fines—Amount—Determination—Method of calculation laid down by the guidelines drawn up by the Commission—Calculation of the basic amount of the fine—Determination of the value of sales—Criteria—Merger which came into being during the concerted practice

(Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 238(2); Commission Communication 2006/C 210/02, points 5 and 6)

(see paras 73-77)

11. 

Competition—Administrative procedure—Commission decision finding an infringement—Judicial review—Adversarial nature of the procedure carried out before the EU Courts—Obligations of the undertaking challenging the Commission’s decision

(Art. 81(1) EC)

(see paras 85-87)

12. 

Appeal—Jurisdiction of the Court—Whether it may review, on grounds of fairness, the assessment by the General Court in regard to the amount of the fines imposed on undertakings which have infringed the competition rules of the Treaty—Not included—Challenge to that assessment on grounds alleging breach of the principle of proportionality—Lawfulness

(Arts 256 TFEU and 261 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 31)

(see para. 95)

13. 

Competition—Fines—Amount—Determination—Criteria—Need to differentiate between the undertakings involved in the same infringement by reference to their overall turnover—Obligation to differentiate on the basis of the percentage accounted for by the fine of the overall turnover of an undertaking—No such obligation—No breach of the principles of proportionality and equal treatment

(Art. 81 EC; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2))

(see paras 101, 102)

14. 

Appeal—Grounds—Plea directed against the decision of the General Court on costs—Inadmissible where all other pleas are rejected

(Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, second para.)

(see para. 109)

1.

Dismisses the appeal;

2.

Orders H&R ChemPharm GmbH to pay the costs.