(Finance) – The Court of Justice of the European Union (CURIA) has confirmed the fines imposed by the European Commission for aagreement in the Italian reinforcing steel marketwith the exception of that inflicted on Ferriere Nord.
In 2002, the European Commission imposed fines on eight companies and one business association for aanti-competitive agreement on the Italian reinforcing steel market, from December 1989 to July 2000. In 2007, the Court annulled this decision on the grounds that its legal basis was no longer in force at the time of its adoption. Subsequently, on 30 September 2009, the Commission adopted a new decision, addressed to the same companies addressed by the 2002 decision and which essentially reproduced its content and conclusions. In particular, the amount of fines imposed remained unchanged. The 2009 decision was confirmed, in principle, by the Court annulled by the Court of Justice with reference to five companiesdue to certain irregularities which invalidated the administrative procedure at the origin of its adoption.
After summarizing the proceedings, the Commission adopted, on 4 July 2019, a decision once again finding the infringement which had been the subject of the 2009 decision. This decision was addressed to the five companies in favor of which the 2009 decision was been cancelled. In consideration of the length of the proceedings, the amount of the fines was reduced by 50%. In September 2019, three of these companies – Ferriera Valsabbia and Valsabbia Investimenti, Alfa Acciai and Ferriere Nord – they proposed appeal for annulment of the 2019 decision. Having been unsuccessful before the General Court, they appealed to the Court of Justice.
The Court rejects the appeals brought by Ferriera Valsabbia and Valsabbia Investimenti as well as by Alfa Acciai, thus confirming the rulings of the Court and the 2019 Commission decision. The Court partially upholds Ferriere Nord’s appeal, reducing the amount of the fine imposed on that company. The Court considers, in particular, that the General Court committed no error of law when it held that the contested decision was adopted following a procedure conducted in accordance with EU law and that the Commission did not impede the exercise of the rights of defense of the appellant companies.
As regards the imposition of fines, the Court confirms that the Commission was entitled to consider that, in light of the gravity of the infringement found, the sanction was justified. The Court recalls, in this regard, that the fines have as their object the repression of the offenses of the companies concerned as well as the dissuasion of all economic operators from violating the Union’s competition rules in the future. The deterrent effect of such a fine is not limited to preventing the repetition of a specific anti-competitive agreement.
As regards the fine imposed on Ferriere Nord, the Court notes that the Commission granted that company a reduction due to its temporary failure to participate in one component of the cartel. This reduction was lower (per month of non-participation) than that granted to Riva Acciaio for its temporary non-participation in the same component of the agreement. Considering that the Commission’s application of different reduction percentages, in the absence of valid justification, breached the principle of equal treatment, the Court reduces the amount of the fine imposed on Ferriere Nord from 2,237,000 to 2,165,000 euros.