Judgment of the General Court of 19 May 2010 — KME Germany and Others v Commission

(Case T-25/05) (1)

(Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Copper plumbing tube industry - Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC - Fines - Actual impact on the market - Size of the relevant market - Duration of the infringement - Ability to pay - Cooperation)

(2010/C 179/52)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicants: KME Germany AG, formerly KM Europa Metal AG (Osnabrück, Germany); KME France SAS, formerly Tréfimétaux SA (Courbevoie, France); and KME Italy SpA, formerly Europa Metalli SpA (Florence, Italy) (represented by: M. Siragusa, A. Winckler, G.C. Rizza, T. Graf, M. Piergiovanni, lawyers, and R. Elderkin, Barrister)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: É. Gippini Fournier, S. Noë and C. Thomas, Agents)

Re:

Application, first, for reduction of the fines imposed on the applicants under Article 2(g), (h) and (i) of Commission Decision C(2004) 2826 of 3 September 2004 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/E-1/38.069 — Copper plumbing tubes) and, second, by way of counterclaim by the Commission, for those fines to be increased.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.	Dismisses the action;

2.	Dismisses the European Commission’s counterclaim;

3.	Orders KME Germany AG, KME France SAS and KME Italy Spa to bear their own costs and to pay 50 % of the costs incurred by the Commission;

4.	Orders the Commission to bear 50 % of its own costs.

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(1)  OJ C 82, 2.4.2005.