23.2.2008

Official Journal of the European Union

C 51/50

(Case T-462/07)

(2008/C 51/92)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicants: GALP Energia España SA (Madrid, Spain), Petróleos de Portugal SA (Lisbon, Portugal) and GALP Energia, SGPS, SA (Lisbon, Portugal) (represented by: M. Slotboom, lawyers)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

—Primarily, to set aside the contested decision; or

—alternatively, to set aside Articles 1, 2 and 3 of that decision as far as the applicants are concerned; or

—alternatively, to set aside Article 2 of the decision to the extent that a fine has been imposed on the applicants; or

—alternatively to reduce the fine that has been imposed on the applicants in Article 2 of the decision;

—to order the Commission to bear the costs of the present proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

By means of their application, the applicants request annulment, in whole or partially, of Commission Decision C(2007) 4441 final of 3 October 2007 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 EC (Case COMP/38710 — Bitumen Spain) by which the Commission found that the applicants, among other undertakings, participated in a complex of agreements and concerted practices in the penetration bitumen business which covered the territory of Spain and which consisted in market sharing agreements and price coordination.

In support of their claims the applicants put forward the following pleas in law:

—the Commission, in violation of the principle of sound administration enshrined in Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, failed to institute a fair, careful and impartial investigation, substituting its own independent investigation of the relevant facts by vague and incorrect accusations made by other leniency applicants;

—the Commission allegedly breached Article 81 EC and Article 23(2) of Regulation 1/2003 (1) through manifest errors of appraisal and misapplication of the law, by finding that GALP Energia España took part in customer allocation, in monitoring and compensation mechanisms, or in any of the price arrangements, as described in the contested decision;

—the Commission further breached Article 81 EC and Article 23(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 through its determination of the duration of the alleged breach of Article 81 EC by concluding that GALP Energia España's involvement in the prohibited practices lasted until October 2002. In addition, the applicants submit that the Commission violated the abovementioned provisions in determining the level of the fine imposed on them;

—finally, since the Commission failed to carry out a careful and independent investigation, there was a defective adduction of evidence and a breach of the principle of the obligation to state reasons, embodied in Article 253 EC.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty (OJ L 1, p. 1).