1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/1

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/3

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/4

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from the Europa competition website (http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/mergers/cases/). This website provides various facilities to help locate individual merger decisions, including company, case number, date and sectoral indexes,

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in electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32008M4987. EUR-Lex is the on-line access to European law (http://eur-lex.europa.eu).

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/5

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/6

1.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the addressees of the draft decision have participated in agreements and/or concerted practices within the meaning of Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement.

2.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission's assessment of the product and the geographic scope of the agreement and/or concerted practice.

3.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the addressees of the draft decision have participated in a single and continuous infringement.

4.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the agreement and/or concerted practice between professional videotape suppliers in the EEA were capable of having an appreciable effect upon trade between Member States.

5.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the object and the effect of the agreement and/or concerted practice was to restrict competition within the meaning of Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement.

6.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission's assessment on the addressees of the draft decision, specifically with reference to imputation of liability to parent companies of the groups concerned.

7.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission's assessment on aggravating circumstances.

8.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission's assessment on mitigating circumstances.

9.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission on the application of the 2002 Leniency Notice.

10.

The Advisory Committee recommends the publication of its opinion in the Official Journal of the European Union.

11.

The Advisory Committee asks the Commission to take into account other points raised during the discussion.

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/7

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/9

1.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission on the basic amount of the fines.

2.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission on the increase of the basic amount due to aggravating circumstances.

3.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission on the increase of the fine to ensure a sufficient deterrent effect.

4.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission on the reductions of the fines based on the 2002 Leniency Notice.

5.

The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission on the final amounts of the fines.

6.

The Advisory Committee recommends the publication of its opinion in the Official Journal of the European Union.

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/10

(1)

On 20 November 2007, the Commission adopted a decision relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement. In accordance with the provisions of Article 30 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (1), the Commission herewith publishes the names of the parties and the main content of the decision, including any penalties imposed, having regard to the legitimate interest of undertakings in the protection of their business secrets. A non-confidential version of the full text of the decision can be found in the authentic language of the case at the Directorate General for Competition's web-site: http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/index_en.html

(2)

This case started as an ex officio investigation with dawn raids on 28 and 29 May 2002 at a total of eleven premises belonging to members of the Sony, Fuji and Maxell groups in five Member States. Two incidents occurred at Sony's premises, one involving the destruction of documents, the other a refusal to reply to questions.

(3)

On 5 December 2006, Fuji formally applied for a reduction of fines under the 2002 Leniency Notice (2). Its application made reference to information previously submitted to the Commission since June 2002. By letter of 23 February 2007, the Commission informed Fuji of its intention to grant Fuji a reduction of 30 to 50 % of the fine under the 2002 Leniency Notice.

(4)

The Statement of Objections was adopted on 8 March 2007 and notified to all the parties by 16 March 2007.

(5)

On 10 April 2007 Maxell formally applied for a reduction of fines under the 2002 Leniency Notice. Its application made reference to information previously submitted to the Commission since October 2004.

(6)

An oral hearing was held on 12 June 2007.

(7)

TV-stations and independent producers of TV-content and advertising films are the main customers of professional videotape. The decision concerns only the two most popular professional videotape formats at the time of the infringement: Betacam SP and Digital Betacam, which together represented 77 % of all professional videotape sales in the EEA in 2001. The estimated EEA market value for these two formats was approximately EUR 118 million in 2001. For that year, the three undertakings involved in the infringement held an estimated market share of 89 %.

(8)

The decision concludes that Sony, Fuji and Maxell operated between 23 August 1999 and 16 May 2002 a cartel with a view to increasing and maintaining or stabilising prices for Betacam SP and Digital Betacam videotape in the EEA market, and also exchanged information to facilitate and/or monitor their implementation.

(9)

The companies organised three (successful) rounds of price increases and otherwise endeavoured to stabilise the prices. They also regularly discussed past and forthcoming tenders, typically from public and private TV-stations.

(10)

There were 11 meetings between representatives of the three undertakings during the period of the infringement, in all of which they discussed and agreed prices and/or exchanged sensitive commercial information, as well as continuous contacts between meetings to discuss prices and specific clients and to follow-up the implementation of the cartel agreements.

(11)

The decision further concludes that it has been established that the agreements on prices were generally implemented.

(12)

The decision is addressed to the following legal entities, which belong to the three participating undertakings (Sony, Fuji and Maxell):

(13)

Liability of the ultimate parent companies is established both because of their direct participation in one of the cartel meetings, which was held in Japan, and on the basis of the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence over their wholly-owned subsidiaries, which is reinforced by several additional indicia.

(14)

This is the first cartel case in which the 2006 Guidelines on Fines (3) have been applied.

(15)

The basic amount of the fine is determined as a proportion of the value of the sales of the relevant product made by each undertaking in the relevant geographic area during the last full business year of the infringement (‘variable amount’), multiplied by the number of years of infringement, plus an additional amount (‘entry fee’), also calculated as a proportion of the value of sales, which is meant to enhance deterrence in respect of horizontal price fixing agreements.

(16)

Having considered different factors, in particular the nature, the combined market share and the geographic scope of the infringement, the decision applies in this case a variable amount of 18 % and an entry fee of 17 %.

(17)

Taking into account that the infringement lasted for at least 2 years and 8 months, the variable amount is multiplied by 3.

(18)

As mentioned in paragraph 2, two separate incidents occurred at Sony's premises during the inspection. The decision concludes that both incidents constituted obstruction and justify an increase of 30 % in the basic amount imposed on Sony.

(19)

The parties argued for the application of a series of mitigating circumstances such as early termination of the infringement, limited involvement in the infringement, effective co-operation outside the Leniency Notice, isolated and unauthorized conduct without senior management's knowledge and introduction of a compliance program after the infringement. These claims are all rejected.

(20)

Taking into account the need to ensure that fines have a sufficiently deterrent effect, and in consideration of the large size of Sony's turnover beyond the sales of goods or services to which the infringement relates, the decision increases the fine to be imposed to this undertaking by 10 %.

(21)

The 10 % worldwide turnover limit provided for in Article 23(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 is not attained in respect of the fine to be imposed on any of the undertakings.

(22)

As mentioned under paragraphs 5 and 6 above, both Fuji and Maxell filed applications for a reduction of fines under the 2002 Leniency Notice.

(23)

The decision grants a reduction of the fine of 40 % for Fuji and 20 % for Maxell. These percentages of reduction take into account the extent to which the evidence submitted by each company represented added value, as well as the time at which this evidence was submitted.

(24)

Sony's contribution to this case was limited to not contesting most of the facts after having received the Statement of Objections. The decision concludes that this does not constitute significant added value under the Leniency Notice.

(25)

The following undertakings infringed Article 81 of the Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement by participating, from 23 August 1999 until 16 May 2002, in a complex of agreements and concerted practices with a view to increasing and to maintaining or stabilising prices for Betacam SP and Digital Betacam videotape in the EEA market:

(26)

For the infringement referred to in the previous paragraph, the following fines are imposed:

(27)

The undertakings listed above are ordered to immediately bring to an end the infringement insofar as they have not already done so and to refrain from repeating any act or conduct described in paragraph 25 and from any act or conduct having the same or similar object or effect.

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/13

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/14

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/21

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/28

—

be a public or a private organisation, with a legal status and legal personality (consequently, natural persons — i.e. individuals — may not submit applications),

—

lead a national consortium whose composition represents the stakeholders' diversity within the country,

—

be able to carry out all activities within the scope of those detailed in section 3 of the call for proposal full text (collection and analysis of information, research, documentation and databases, dissemination and promotion).

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Luxembourg, Malta, Romania and Norway.

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/30

1.

On 20 February 2008, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 and following a referral pursuant to Article 4(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertaking Itema Holding SpA (‘Itema’, Italy), jointly controlled by Radici group and Mirco Radici group, acquires, within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Council Regulation, control of the whole of the undertaking Gebrueder Loepfe AG (‘BarcoVision’, Switzerland) by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

3.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.

4.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax ((32-2) 296 43 01 or 296 72 44) or by post, under reference number COMP/M.4874 — Itema/BarcoVision, to the following address:

1.3.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 57/31

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002:

Other:

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Cestovní doklad Úmluva z 28. července 1951

(Travel document Convention of 28 July 1951 — issued from 1 January 1995 (from 1 September 2006 as e-passport))

—

Cizinecký pas

(Alien's passport — if issued to a stateless person (marked on inside pages with official stamp with the words ‘Úmluva z 28. září 1954/Convention of 28 September 1954’ — issued from 17 October 2004) (from 1 September 2006 as e-passport))

—

Seznam cestujících na školní výlet v rámci Evropské unie

(List of participants on a school trip within the European Union, paper document — issued from 1 April 2006)

Diplomatické identifikační průkazy s označením

(Diplomatic Identity cards with the following codes)

Identifikační průkazy s označením

(Identity card with the following codes)

1.

Adult aliens should be in possession of the following documents:

(a)   Titres de séjours spéciaux

(b)   Monegasque permits

2.

Aliens who are minors should be in possession of the following documents:

3.

List of persons participating in a school trip within the European Union

NB 1:

It should be noted that acknowledgement of first-time applications for residence permits does not give entitlement to entry without a visa. In contrast, acknowledgement of requests to renew residence permits or to amend permits is considered valid when these are accompanied by the old permit.

NB 2:

The ‘attestation de fonctions’ (certificate of appointment) issued by the protocol department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not amount to a replacement of a residence permit. Holders must also be in possession of one of the standard residence permits.

—

Special Italian Post Office receipt for residence permit renewal application

The use of the Special Italian Post Office receipt is possible exclusively in conjunction with the passport of the alien and the expired residence permit. This receipt will be used from 14 December 2007 until 31 March 2008.

—

Pastāvīgās uzturēšanās atļauja

(Permanent residence permit — in the form of a sticker, green in colour)

—

Uzturēšanās atļauja

(Residence permit — in the form of a sticker, issued as from 1 May 2004 pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002)

—

Nepilsoņa pase

(Alien's passport, violet in colour)

—

Savienības pilsoņa ģimenes locekļa uzturēšanās atļauja

(Temporary residence permit for a family member of an EU/EEA/CH national who is a third-country national; A5 format with incorporated security features)

—

Savienības pilsoņa ģimenes locekļa pastāvīgās uzturēšanās atļauja

(Permanent residence permit for a family member of an EU/EEA/CH national who is a third-country national; A5 format with incorporated security features)

—

Ceļotāju saraksts izglītības iestādes ekskursijām Eiropas Savienībā

(List of travellers on school trips within the European Union)

—

A category ID card — for Diplomatic staff (red in colour)

A category ID cards are issued to the diplomatic staff of the mission (e.g. Ambassador, First Secretary, Attaché) and their family members; on the reverse side there is a text that the holder of the card enjoys all the privileges and immunities under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: ‘Šīs apliecības uzrādītājs bauda visas privilēģijas un imunitātes, kas paredzētas 1961. gada 18. aprīļa Vīnes konvencijā “Par diplomātiskajām attiecībām”’.

—

B category ID card — for Administrative and technical staff (yellow in colour)

B category ID cards are issued to the administrative and technical staff of the mission; on the reverse side there is a text that the holder enjoys partial privileges and immunities for administrative and technical staff as specified in Article 37(2) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: ‘Šīs apliecības uzrādītājs bauda daļējas privilēģijas un imunitātes, kas paredzētas administratīvajiem un tehniskajiem darbiniekiem saskaņā ar 1961. gada 18. aprīļa Vīnes konvencijas “Par diplomātiskajām attiecībām” 37. panta 2. punktu’.

—

C category ID card — for the staff of international organisations (white in colour)

C category ID cards are issued to the staff of international organisations and their family members; on the reverse there is a text that the holder of this card enjoys privileges and immunities in accordance with the Agreement between the Republic of Latvia and the respective international organisation: ‘Šīs apliecības uzrādītājs bauda privilēģijas un imunitātes, kas paredzētas līgumā starp Latvijas Republiku un attiecīgo starptautisko organizāciju’.

—

D category ID card — for Career Consular office staff (blue in colour)

D category ID cards are issued to the career consular officers of the consular mission; on the reverse side there is a text that the holder of this card enjoys all the privileges and immunities under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations: ‘Šīs apliecības uzrādītājs bauda visas privilēģijas un imunitātes, kas paredzētas 1963. gada 24. aprīļa Vīnes konvencijā “Par konsulārajām attiecībām”’.

—

F category ID cards (green in colour) — there are two kinds of cards

F category ID cards are issued to the service staff of the mission; on the reverse side there is a text that the holder enjoys partial privileges and immunities for service staff as specified in Article 37(3) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: ‘Šīs apliecības uzrādītājs bauda daļējas privilēģijas un imunitātes, kas paredzētas vēstniecību apkalpojošam personālam saskaņā ar 1961. gada 18. aprīļa Vīnes konvencijas “Par diplomātiskajām attiecībām” 37. panta 3. punktu’.

F category ID cards are issued to the private servants of the staff of the mission; on the reverse side there is a text that the holder enjoys partial privileges and immunities for service staff as specified in Article 37(4) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: ‘Šīs apliecības uzrādītājs bauda daļējas privilēģijas un imunitātes, kas paredzētas vēstniecību apkalpojošam personālam saskaņā ar 1961. gada 18. aprīļa Vīnes konvencijas “Par diplomātiskajām attiecībām” 37. panta 4. punktu’.

—

Leidimas laikinai gyventi Lietuvos Respublikoje

(Permit of temporary residence in the Republic of Lithuania — card)

—

Leidimas nuolat gyventi Lietuvos Respublikoje (galioja iki 15.11.2009)

(Permit of permanent residence in the Republic of Lithuania — card (valid until 15.11.2009))

—

Europos Sąjungos valstybės narės piliečio šeimos nario leidimas gyventi Lietuvos Respublikoje

(Residence permit in the Republic of Lithuania of a family member of a citizen of an EU Member State — card)

—

Lietuvos Respublikos ilgalaikio gyventojo leidimas gyventi Europos Bendrijoje

(Permit of a long-term resident of the Republic of Lithuania to reside in the European Community — card)

Asmens grįžimo pažymėjimas

(Repatriation certificate, only to return to the Republic of Lithuania — yellow-light green colour)

—

‘A’ kategorijos akreditacijos pažymėjimas (gelsvos/žalsvos/rausvos spalvos su raudona šonine juostele) suteikiamas diplomatiniams agentams, konsuliniams pareigūnams ir tarptautinių organizacijų atstovybių nariams, kurie pagal tarptautinę teisę naudojasi diplomatinėmis privilegijomis ir imunitetais

(Accreditation certificate, ‘A’ category (yellowish/greenish/pink colour with red side strip) — issued to diplomatic agents, consular officers and members of representative offices of international organisations, who enjoy diplomatic immunities and privileges under international law)

—

‘B’ kategorijos akreditacijos pažymėjimas (gelsvos/žalsvos/rausvos spalvos su žalia šonine juostele) suteikiamas administracinio techninio personalo nariams ir konsuliniams darbuotojams

(Accreditation certificate, ‘B’ category (yellowish/greenish/pink colour with green side strip) — issued to members of administrative and technical staff and consular employees)

—

‘C’ kategorijos akreditacijos pažymėjimas (gelsvos/žalsvos/rausvos spalvos su geltona šonine juostele) suteikiamas aptarnaujančiojo personalo nariams ir privatiems namų darbininkams

(Accreditation certificate, ‘C’ category (yellowish/greenish/pink colour with yellow side strip) — issued to the servicing personnel of diplomatic missions and private servants in diplomatic households)

—

‘E’ kategorijos akreditacijos pažymėjimas (gelsvos/žalsvos/rausvos spalvos su pilka šonine juostele) suteikiamas tarptautinių organizacijų atstovybių nariams, kurie pagal tarptautinę teisę naudojasi ribotais imunitetais ir privilegijomis

(Accreditation certificate, ‘E’ category (yellowish/greenish/pink colour with grey side strip) — issued to members of representative offices of international organisations, who enjoy limited privileges and immunities under international law).

—

Povolenie na prechodný pobyt vo forme nálepky alebo identifikačnej karty

(Temporary residence permits in the form of a sticker or ID card)

—

Povolenie na trvalý pobyt vo forme identifikačnej karty

(Permanent residence permit in the form of an ID card)

—

Cestovný doklad pre utečenca (Dohovor OSN z 28. júla 1951)

(Travel document for refugees (UN Convention of 28 July 1951))

—

Cestovný doklad pre osoby bez štátnej príslušnosti (Dohovor OSN z 28. septembra 1954)

(Travel document for stateless persons (UN Convention of 28 September 1954))

—

Cudzinecký pas v ktorom sa nachádza povolenie na pobyt vo forme nálepky vydanej osobe, ktorej bola poskytnutá doplnková ochrana na území Slovenskej republiky

(Alien's passport into which a residence permit in the form of a sticker is affixed which was issued to the person with subsidiary protection on the territory of Slovak Republic)

—

Zoznam osôb zúčastňujúcich sa na školských výletoch v rámci Európskej únie

(List of pupils travelling on a school trip within the European Union)

—

Identifikačný preukaz diplomatického zástupcu

(Diplomatic identity card)

—

Identifikačný preukaz administratívneho a technického personálu (vydávaný pre administratívny a technický personál veľvyslanectva alebo konzulátu)

(Identity card issued to the administrative and technical staff of an embassy or a consulate)

—

Identifikačný preukaz služobného a súkromného personálu (vydávaný pre služobný personál veľvyslanectva alebo konzulátu alebo pre súkromný personál diplomatického alebo administratívneho a technického alebo služobného personálu veľvyslanectva alebo konzulátu)

(Identity card issued to the service staff of an embassy or a consulate and to the private servants of the embassy or the consulate staff)

—

Identifikačný preukaz pracovníkov medzinárodných organizácií

(International Organisations' staff identity card).

—

Dovoljenje za prebivanje (nalepka 74 × 105 mm)

Vrsta dovoljenja za prebivanje se označi na nalepki in se izda kot: