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PARALLEL TEXTS
Il Tribunale conferma la decisione della Commissione di rigetto di una denuncia relativa alle pratiche tariffarie della France Télécom per talune prestazioni all’ingrosso di telecomunicazioni
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-129_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-129_it.htm
Data documento: 16-10-2013
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The General Court upholds the Commission’s decision rejecting a complaint about France Télécom’s pricing practices for certain wholesale telecommunication services
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Il Tribunale conferma la decisione della Commissione di rigetto di una denuncia relativa alle pratiche tariffarie della France Télécom per talune prestazioni all’ingrosso di telecomunicazioni
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As those services had only limited effects on the functioning of the retail markets, the Commission was not bound to pursue a detailed investigation
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Infatti, atteso che tali pratiche hanno prodotto unicamente effetti limitati sul funzionamento dei mercati al dettaglio, la Commissione non era tenuta a dar corso ad un’indagine approfondita
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Vivendi, a French company, owns the majority of the registered capital in SFR, one of the largest mobile and fixed telecommunications operators in France.
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La Vivendi, società francese, è detentrice della maggioranza del capitale sociale della SFR, uno dei grandi operatori di telecomunicazioni mobili e fisse in Francia.
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France Télécom, which later became Orange, is the incumbent French telecommunications operator which owns the local loop.
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La France Télécom, divenuta Orange, è l’operatore storico francese di telecomunicazioni, detentore della rete locale.
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It offers wholesale services to the other telecommunications operators, which they may make use of in order to offer their own customers retail services using the local loop.
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Essa propone agli altri operatori di telecomunicazioni offerte all’ingrosso cui questi possono ricorrere per proporre ai propri clienti offerte al dettaglio utilizzando la rete locale.
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In 2009, Vivendi and Iliad, which has a 100% shareholding in Free SAS, an internet service provider in France, filed a complaint with the Commission alleging several infringements of EU competition law by France Télécom on the market for high-speed internet access and the telephone subscription market.
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Nel 2009, la Vivendi e la Iliad, detentrice dell’intero capitale sociale della Free SAS, fornitrice di accesso ad Internet in Francia, hanno presentato una denuncia alla Commissione contestando una serie di violazioni del diritto della concorrenza dell’Unione da parte della France Télécom sul mercato dell’accesso a Internet a banda larga e su quello degli abbonamenti telefonici.
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According to the complainant companies, France Télécom is demanding an excessively high price for the provision of its wholesale services relating to access to the local loop.
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A parere delle società denuncianti, la France Télécom richiederebbe un prezzo eccessivamente elevato per la fornitura dei propri servizi all’ingrosso di accesso alla rete locale.
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They claim that through its actions, France Télécom aims to increase the costs imposed on competitors in the retail markets and to drive them out of those markets.
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Esse affermano che, con tali pratiche, la France Télécom perseguirebbe l’obiettivo di aumentare i costi imposti ai concorrenti sui mercati al dettaglio e di estrometterli dal mercato medesimo.
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In July 2012, the Commission adopted a decision rejecting the complaint on the grounds that there was not sufficient EU interest in pursuing an investigation of the alleged infringements.
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Nel luglio del 2012, la Commissione ha adottato una decisione con cui ha respinto la denuncia per assenza di interesse dell’Unione europea ad avviare un’indagine sulle pretese infrazioni.
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The Commission considered that pursuing an enquiry would have been disproportionate in terms of the duration and resources required having regard, first, to the limited impact which the practices in question were likely to have on the functioning of the internal market, and, secondly, the limited possibility of proving an infringement of the competition rules.
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A parere della Commissione, lo svolgimento di un’indagine sarebbe risultato sproporzionato in termini di durata e di risorse richieste, tenuto conto, da un lato, della limitata incidenza che le pratiche potevano produrre sul funzionamento del mercato interno, nonché, dall’altro, della limitata possibilità di fornire la prova di una violazione alle norme in materia di concorrenza.
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Vivendi brought an action for the annulment of the Commission's decision.
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Avverso la decisione della Commissione la Vivendi ha proposto ricorso di annullamento.
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In its judgment, the General Court finds, first, that the integration of Wanadoo Interactive, a former retail subsidiary of France Télécom, into the parent company had been closely monitored by the Commission and by the French authorities.
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Con la propria sentenza il Tribunale rileva, anzitutto, che l’integrazione della Wanadoo Interactive, ex controllata della France Télécom attiva per le attività al dettaglio, in seno alla società madre, era stata strettamente sorvegliata dalla Commissione e dalle autorità francesi.
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They did not find any evidence suggesting that France Télécom was engaged in anti-competitive practices to the detriment of its competitors.
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Orbene, queste non hanno rilevato alcun elemento di prova da cui emergesse che la France Télécom avrebbe posto in essere pratiche anticoncorrenziali a danno dei propri concorrenti.
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In that regard, the Court states that, when reviewing compliance with the competition rules, the Commission can take account of the results of inspections and monitoring carried out by the national authorities and their regulatory activities.
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A tal riguardo, il Tribunale ricorda che, nell’esame del rispetto delle norme in materia di concorrenza, la Commissione può tener conto delle risultanze dei controlli e della vigilanza effettuati dalle autorità nazionali nonché delle attività di regolamentazione da queste esercitate.
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Thus, the Commission was able to endorse the conclusion of ARCEP that the most appropriate method for calculating the costs connected with the use of the local loop was that of ‘current economic costs’.
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In tal senso, la Commissione ha potuto far propria la conclusione dell’ARCEP secondo cui il metodo più adeguato ai fini del calcolo dei costi relativi all’utilizzazione della rete locale era quello dei «costi economici correnti».
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That method was based mainly on the consideration of the actual historic investments which France Télécom had made in the telecommunication infrastructure for the benefit of the alternative operators, such as Vivendi.
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Tale metodo si fondava principalmente sulla considerazione degli investimenti storici reali effettuati dalla France Télécom sull’infrastruttura di telecomunicazioni a favore degli operatori alternativi, quali la Vivendi.
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Similarly, the Commission did not fail to have regard to the limits of its discretionary power by concluding that there was no evidence that the incorrect information communicated by France Télécom relating to those investments had misled ARCEP when it chose the method for calculating the costs of the local loop.
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Parimenti, la Commissione non ha violato i limiti del proprio potere discrezionale laddove ha ritenuto, in conclusione, che non esistessero prove che la comunicazione di informazioni erronee riguardanti tali investimenti della France Télécom avesse indotto l’ARCEP in errore nella scelta del metodo di contabilizzazione dei costi della rete locale.
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The Court also rejects Vivendi’s claim that the Commission did not examine sufficiently the effects of France Télécom’s contested practices on the retail market.
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Il Tribunale respinge parimenti l’affermazione della Vivendi secondo cui la Commissione non avrebbe sufficientemente esaminato gli effetti prodotti dalle pratiche contestate della France Télécom sui mercati al dettaglio.
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In addition, the Commission rightly established that the abusive nature of the pricing practices of a dominant undertaking, such as France Télécom on the wholesale telecommunication market, must be determined on the basis of its own situation, and therefore on the basis of its own charges and costs, rather than on the basis of the situation of its competitors.
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Inoltre, correttamente la Commissione ha affermato che il carattere abusivo delle pratiche tariffarie di un’impresa dominante, quale la France Télécom sul mercato all’ingrosso dei servizi di telecomunicazioni, dev’essere accertato con riferimento alla sua propria situazione e, pertanto, con riferimento alle sue tariffe e ai suoi costi, e non alla luce della situazione dei suoi concorrenti.
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In those circumstances, the Court concludes that the Commission could rightly find that, in the review of the complaint in question, the possibility of establishing proof of any infringement on the part of France Télécom was very limited.
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Ciò premesso, il Tribunale afferma, in conclusione, che correttamente la Commissione ha potuto dichiarare, nell’ambito dell’esame della denuncia, che la possibilità di fornire prove di un’eventuale infrazione da parte della France Télécom risultava molto limitata.
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Such a finding is sufficient in itself to conclude that the EU has no interest in pursuing the investigation, and it justifies the rejection of the complaint.
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Orbene, tale rilievo è di per sé sufficiente per concludere che non sussiste un interesse dell’Unione all’avvio di un’indagine e giustifica il rigetto della denuncia.
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Accordingly, the Court dismisses the action brought by Vivendi.
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Conseguentemente, il Tribunale respinge il ricorso della Vivendi.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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An appeal, limited to points of law only, may be brought before the Court of Justice against the decision of the General Court within two months of notification of the decision.
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Contro la decisione del Tribunale, entro due mesi a decorrere dalla data della sua notifica, può essere proposta un'impugnazione, limitata alle questioni di diritto, dinanzi alla Corte.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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An action for annulment seeks the annulment of acts of the institutions of the European Union that are contrary to European Union law.
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Il ricorso di annullamento mira a far annullare atti delle istituzioni dell’Unione contrari al diritto dell’Unione.
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The Member States, the European institutions and individuals may, under certain conditions, bring an action for annulment before the Court of Justice or the General Court.
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A determinate condizioni, gli Stati membri, le istituzioni europee e i privati possono investire la Corte di giustizia o il Tribunale di un ricorso di annullamento.
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If the action is well founded, the act is annulled.
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Se il ricorso è fondato, l'atto viene annullato.
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The institution concerned must fill any legal vacuum created by the annulment of the act. |
L'istituzione interessata deve rimediare all’eventuale lacuna giuridica creata dall’annullamento dell’atto. |
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
The General Court upholds the Commission’s decision rejecting a complaint
about France Télécom’s pricing practices for certain wholesale telecommunication
services
As those services had only limited effects on the functioning of the retail
markets, the Commission was not bound to pursue a detailed investigation
Vivendi, a French company, owns the majority of the registered capital in
SFR, one of the largest mobile and fixed telecommunications operators in France.
France Télécom, which later became Orange, is the incumbent French
telecommunications operator which owns the local loop.
It offers wholesale services to the other telecommunications operators, which
they may make use of in order to offer their own customers retail services using
the local loop.
In 2009, Vivendi and Iliad, which has a 100% shareholding in Free SAS, an
internet service provider in France, filed a complaint with the Commission
alleging several infringements of EU competition law by France Télécom on the
market for high-speed internet access and the telephone subscription market.
According to the complainant companies, France Télécom is demanding an
excessively high price for the provision of its wholesale services relating to
access to the local loop.
They claim that through its actions, France Télécom aims to increase the
costs imposed on competitors in the retail markets and to drive them out of
those markets.
In July 2012, the Commission adopted a decision rejecting the complaint on
the grounds that there was not sufficient EU interest in pursuing an
investigation of the alleged infringements.
The Commission considered that pursuing an enquiry would have been
disproportionate in terms of the duration and resources required having regard,
first, to the limited impact which the practices in question were likely to have
on the functioning of the internal market, and, secondly, the limited
possibility of proving an infringement of the competition rules.
Vivendi brought an action for the annulment of the Commission's decision.
In its judgment, the General Court finds, first, that the integration of
Wanadoo Interactive, a former retail subsidiary of France Télécom, into the
parent company had been closely monitored by the Commission and by the French
authorities.
They did not find any evidence suggesting that France Télécom was engaged in
anti-competitive practices to the detriment of its competitors.
In that regard, the Court states that, when reviewing compliance with the
competition rules, the Commission can take account of the results of inspections
and monitoring carried out by the national authorities and their regulatory
activities.
Thus, the Commission was able to endorse the conclusion of ARCEP that the
most appropriate method for calculating the costs connected with the use of the
local loop was that of ‘current economic costs’.
That method was based mainly on the consideration of the actual historic
investments which France Télécom had made in the telecommunication
infrastructure for the benefit of the alternative operators, such as Vivendi.
Similarly, the Commission did not fail to have regard to the limits of its
discretionary power by concluding that there was no evidence that the incorrect
information communicated by France Télécom relating to those investments had
misled ARCEP when it chose the method for calculating the costs of the local
loop.
The Court also rejects Vivendi’s claim that the Commission did not examine
sufficiently the effects of France Télécom’s contested practices on the retail
market.
In addition, the Commission rightly established that the abusive nature of
the pricing practices of a dominant undertaking, such as France Télécom on the
wholesale telecommunication market, must be determined on the basis of its own
situation, and therefore on the basis of its own charges and costs, rather than
on the basis of the situation of its competitors.
In those circumstances, the Court concludes that the Commission could rightly
find that, in the review of the complaint in question, the possibility of
establishing proof of any infringement on the part of France Télécom was very
limited.
Such a finding is sufficient in itself to conclude that the EU has no
interest in pursuing the investigation, and it justifies the rejection of the
complaint.
Accordingly, the Court dismisses the action brought by Vivendi.
NOTE:
An appeal, limited to points of law only, may be brought before the Court of
Justice against the decision of the General Court within two months of
notification of the decision.
NOTE:
An action for annulment seeks the annulment of acts of the institutions of
the European Union that are contrary to European Union law.
The Member States, the European institutions and individuals may, under
certain conditions, bring an action for annulment before the Court of Justice or
the General Court.
If the action is well founded, the act is annulled.
The institution concerned must fill any legal vacuum created by the annulment
of the act.
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