Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 14 November 2019 — Silec Cable and General Cable v Commission

(Case C‑599/18 P) ( 1 )

(Appeal — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — European market for underground and submarine power cables — Market allocation in connection with projects — Proof of the infringement — Presumption of innocence — Distortion of the evidence — Public distancing — Subjective perception of other cartel participants — Infringement committed by several undertakings constituting a single economic entity — Gravity of the infringement committed by one of these undertakings — Determination — ‘Fringe player’ or ‘moderate player’ in the cartel — Determination — Principle of equal treatment)

Appeal — Grounds — Incorrect assessment of the facts and evidence — 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 — Requirement that the distortion be obvious from the documents in the file

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

(see paras 38-49, 80)

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 — Undertaking concerned not distancing itself from the decisions adopted — Need to take other evidence into account

(Art. 101 TFEU; EEA Agreement, Art. 53)

(see paras 51-56)

3.	Competition — Fines — Assessment by reference to the individual conduct of the undertaking — Irrelevant that no sanction brought against another economic operator) (Art. 101 TFEU; EEA Agreement, Art. 53) (see paras 74, 83)

Operative part

The Court:

1.	Dismisses the appeal;

2.	Orders Silec Cable SAS and General Cable Corp. to pay the costs.

( 1 ) OJ C 436, 3.12.2018.