Judgment of the General Court of 22 September 2021 — Altice Europe v Commission

(Case T-425/18) (1)

(Competition - Concentrations - Telecommunications sector - Decision imposing fines for putting into effect a concentration before it has been notified and authorised - Article 4(1), Article 7(1) and Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 - Legal certainty - Legitimate expectations - Principle of legality - Presumption of innocence - Proportionality - Gravity of the infringements - Implementation of the infringements - Exchange of information - Amount of fines - Unlimited jurisdiction)

(2021/C 462/41)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Altice Europe NV (Amsterdam, Netherlands) (represented by: R. Allendesalazar Corcho and H. Brokelmann, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: M. Farley and F. Jimeno Fernández, acting as Agents)

Intervener in support of the defendant: Council of the European Union (represented by: S. Petrova and O. Segnana, acting as Agents)

Re:

Application based on Article 263 TFEU seeking, primarily, annulment of Commission Decision C(2018) 2418 final of 24 April 2018 imposing fines for putting into effect a concentration in breach of Article 4(1) and Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Case M.7993 — Altice/PT Portugal), and, in the alternative, annulment or reduction of the fines imposed on the applicant.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.

Sets the amount of the fine imposed on Altice Europe NV by Article 4 of European Commission Decision C(2018) 2418 final of 24 April 2018 imposing a fine for putting into effect a concentration in breach of Article 4(1) and Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Case M.7993 — Altice/PT Portugal) for infringement of Article 4(1) of that regulation at EUR 56 025 000;

2.	Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3.	Orders Altice Europe to bear its own costs and to pay four fifths of the costs of the Commission;

4.	Orders the Council of the European Union to bear its own costs.

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(1)  OJ C 341, 24.9.2018.