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PARALLEL TEXTS
La Corte conferma le sentenze del Tribunale che riducono le ammende inflitte dalla Commissione alla Alliance One International Inc. e alla sua controllata Agroexpansión SA per la loro partecipazione a un’intesa sul mercato del tabacco greggio in Spagna
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-118_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-118_it.htm
Data documento: 26-09-2013
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The Court confirms the judgments of the General Court reducing the fines imposed by the Commission on Alliance One International Inc.and its subsidiary Agroexpansión SA for their participation in a cartel on the raw tobacco market in Spain
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La Corte conferma le sentenze del Tribunale che riducono le ammende inflitte dalla Commissione alla Alliance One International Inc. e alla sua controllata Agroexpansión SA per la loro partecipazione a un’intesa sul mercato del tabacco greggio in Spagna
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The Court also dismisses the cross-appeal brought by the European Commission
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La Corte respinge anche il ricorso incidentale proposto dalla Commissione europea
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Agroexpansión SA is one of four undertakings engaged in the initial processing of raw tobacco in Spain.
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La Agroexpansión SA è una delle quattro imprese di prima trasformazione di tabacco greggio in Spagna.
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Deltafina SpA, an Italian company which also processes raw tobacco, was the principal purchaser of that product on the Spanish market.
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La Deltafina SpA, una società italiana che trasforma anch’essa tabacco greggio, era la principale acquirente di tale prodotto sul mercato spagnolo.
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Agroexpansión, originally a family business, was purchased in 1997 by Intabex Netherlands BV.
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La Agroexpansión, inizialmente un’impresa familiare, è stata acquisita nel 1997 dalla Intabex Netherlands BV.
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At that time Intabex belonged to the Intabex group of companies, which had been acquired by Dimon Inc.in April 1997.
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All’epoca la Intabex faceva parte del gruppo Intabex, che era stato acquistato dalla Dimon Inc. nell’aprile 1997.
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Alliance One International Inc (‘AOI’), established in the United States, is the result of a merger, carried out in 2005, of Dimon and the American company Standard Commercial Corp.
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La Alliance One International, Inc(«AOI»), con sede negli Stati Uniti, è nata dalla fusione, realizzata nel 2005, della Dimon con la società americana Standard Commercial Corp.
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In 2001 the Commission carried out inspections at the premises of undertakings which included Agroexpansión, in order to check information that the processors and the Spanish producers of raw tobacco had infringed the European rules in relation to anti-competitive practices.
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Nel 2001, la Commissione HA effettuato degli accertamenti nei locali delle imprese, segnatamente quelli della Agroexpansión, al fine di verificare determinate informazioni secondo cui i trasformatori e i produttori spagnoli di tabacco greggio avrebbero violato le norme europee in materia di pratiche anticoncorrenziali.
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Following those inspections the Commission sent a statement of objections to 20 undertakings or associations, including the processors, Deltafina, Dimon and Intabex.
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In seguito a tali verifiche, ha inviato una comunicazione degli addebiti a 20 imprese o associazioni, tra le quali i trasformatori, Deltafina, Dimon e Intabex.
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On 20 October 2004 the Commission adopted a decision in which it declared that a horizontal cartel had been entered into and implemented on the Spanish raw tobacco market by the processors and Deltafina.
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Il 20 ottobre 2004, la Commissione ha adottato una decisione, con la quale ha constatato l’esistenza di un’intesa orizzontale conclusa e attuata sul mercato spagnolo del tabacco greggio dai trasformatori e dalla Deltafina.
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The object of that cartel was to fix each year, in the period from 1996 to 2001, the average delivery price for each variety and grade of raw tobacco and to share out the quantities of each variety of raw tobacco that each of the processors could purchase from the producers.
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Tale intesa aveva per oggetto la fissazione, durante gli anni dal 1996 al 2001, del prezzo medio di consegna delle singole varietà di tabacco greggio, senza distinzione tra le qualità, e la ripartizione dei quantitativi delle singole varietà di tabacco greggio che ciascuno dei trasformatori poteva acquistare dai produttori.
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Between 1999 and 2001 the processors and Deltafina also agreed price brackets per quality grade for each raw tobacco variety as well as average minimum prices per producer and producer group.
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Dal 1999 al 2001 i trasformatori e la Deltafina avevano anche concordato forchette di prezzo per grado qualitativo delle singole qualità di tabacco greggio nonché prezzi minimi medi per produttore e per associazione di produttori.
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The Commission imposed fines on the undertakings and associations concerned.
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La Commissione ha allora inflitto ammende alle imprese e associazioni interessate.
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In calculating the fine, the Commission granted to Agroexpansión a 20% reduction, on the basis of its cooperation, the final amount being €2.59 million, Dimon being held jointly and severally liable for payment of that fine.
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Nel calcolo dell’ammenda, la Commissione ha concesso una riduzione del 20% alla Agroexpansión a titolo della sua cooperazione, fissando l’importo finale a EUR 2,59 milioni, e considerando la Dimon responsabile in solido del pagamento di tale ammenda.
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The two undertakings brought two separate actions before the General Court of the European Union for the annulment of that decision or, alternatively, for reduction of the fine imposed.
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Le due imprese hanno proposto due ricorsi separati dinanzi al Tribunale dell’Unione europea al fine di ottenere l’annullamento di tale decisione o, in subordine, la riduzione dell’ammenda inflitta.
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By two judgments delivered in 2011, the General Court, first, granted to Agroexpansión, on the basis of its cooperation, a further reduction of 5% of its fine in addition to the reduction of 20% already granted by the Commission and fixed at €2.43 million the final amount of the fine imposed on Agroexpansión.
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Con due sentenze pronunciate nel 2011, il Tribunale ha concesso, da un lato, alla Agroexpansión, a titolo della sua cooperazione, un’ulteriore riduzione del 5% della sua ammenda in aggiunta a quella del 20% già concessa dalla Commissione e ha fissato l’importo finale dell’ammenda inflitta alla Agroexpansión in EUR 2,43 milioni.
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Secondly, in relation to AOI (formerly Dimon), the General Court held that Dimon could not be held jointly and severally liable for the infringement before 18 November 1997 (the date of Intabex’s purchase of Agroexpansión).
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Dall’altro, il Tribunale ha dichiarato che la AOI (originariamente Dimon) non poteva essere considerata responsabile in via solidale dell’infrazione anteriormente al 18 novembre 1997 (data di acquisizione della Agroexpansión da parte della Intabex).
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Consequently, the General Court reduced the rate of increase applied to the starting amount of the fine imposed on AOI because of the duration of the infringement from 50% to 35%.
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Di conseguenza, il Tribunale ha ridotto dal 50% al 35% il tasso di maggiorazione applicato all’importo di partenza dell’ammenda inflitta all’AOI a titolo della durata dell’infrazione.
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In addition, the General Court applied to AOI the same further reduction of 5% which it had granted to Agroexpansión, on the basis of the latter’s cooperation, the final amount of Agroexpansión’s fine for which AOI was also liable was therefore set at €2.19 million.
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Inoltre, le ha applicato la medesima riduzione supplementare del 5% concessa alla Agroexpansión, a titolo della sua cooperazione, fissando la parte dell’importo dell’ammenda inflitta alla Agroexpansión, al cui pagamento AOI era tenuta in via solidale, a EUR 2,19 milioni.
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AOI brought these appeals before the Court of Justice in order that those judgments might be set aside.
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L’AOI ha proposto le presenti impugnazioni dinanzi alla Corte di giustizia al fine di ottenere l’annullamento di tali sentenze.
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The Commission also brought a cross-appeal against the judgments of the General Court.
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La Commissione ha anch’essa proposto impugnazione incidentale contro le sentenze del Tribunale.
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By today’s judgments, the Court dismisses the appeals brought by AOI and the cross-appeal brought by the Commission and confirms the judgments of the General Court.
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Con le sentenze odierne, la Corte respinge le impugnazioni proposte dalla AOI nonché l’impugnazione incidentale della Commissione e conferma le sentenze del Tribunale.
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The Court rejects the argument raised by AOI that the General Court erred in law by re-interpreting the Commission’s decision, following explanations which were produced by the Commission subsequent to that decision, in order to mitigate the infringements of the obligation to state reasons and the principle of equal treatment allegedly committed by the Commission in its decision.
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La Corte respinge l’argomento dedotto dalla AOI secondo cui il Tribunale avrebbe commesso un errore di diritto reinterpretando la decisione della Commissione, in seguito alle spiegazioni da questa fornite successivamente all’adozione della decisione stessa e ciò al fine di colmare le violazioni dell’obbligo di motivazione nonché del principio di parità di trattamento nelle quali sarebbe asseritamente incorsa la Commissione nella sua decisione.
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The Court refers, first, to its settled case-law that where the entire capital of a subsidiary is held by its parent company, the Commission may presume that the parent company actually exercises decisive influence over the commercial policy of its subsidiary.
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La Corte ricorda, anzitutto, la sua giurisprudenza costante secondo cui, qualora l’intero capitale di una controllata sia posseduto dalla sua controllante, la Commissione può presumere che quest’ultima eserciti effettivamente un’influenza determinante sulla politica commerciale della controllata.
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In such a situation, the Commission may impose a fine on the parent company without first having to establish the personal involvement of the parent company in the infringement.
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In una tale ipotesi, la Commissione può infliggere un’ammenda alla società controllante senza dover preliminarmente accertare il coinvolgimento personale di quest’ultima nell’infrazione.
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However, that case-law does not imply that the Commission is bound to rely exclusively on that presumption, the Commission being able to establish that a parent company actually exercises decisive influence over its subsidiary by means of other evidence (the ‘dual basis’ method).
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Tuttavia tale giurisprudenza non implica che la Commissione debba basarsi esclusivamente su tale presunzione, potendo la Commissione accertare l’esercizio effettivo di un’influenza determinante della società controllante sulla sua controllata mediante altri elementi di prova (metodo detto della «duplice base»).
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In this case, the Commission had waived reliance on the application solely of the presumption of decisive influence and had decided to rely on factual evidence serving to establish that the parent companies actually exercised a decisive influence on their subsidiary.
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Nel caso di specie, la Commissione non si era limitata ad applicare la sola presunzione di un’influenza determinante e aveva deciso di basarsi su elementi di fatto diretti a accertare che le controllanti esercitassero effettivamente un’influenza determinante sulla loro controllata.
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The Court states that the General Court did not exceed the limits of its jurisdiction because the findings made by the General Court in relation to that method were based on its interpretation of the Commission’s decision and not solely on the explanations produced by the Commission after the adoption of the decision.
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La Corte dichiara che il Tribunale non ha oltrepassato i limiti della sua competenza in quanto, in realtà, le valutazioni svolte dal Tribunale riguardo a tale metodo erano basate sulla sua interpretazione della decisione della Commissione e non solo sulle spiegazioni della Commissione fornite successivamente all’adozione della decisione.
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Further, the General Court did not err in law in finding, contrary to what was claimed by AOI, that the Commission had applied that method in the same way to all the parent companies concerned, including AOI.
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Peraltro, il Tribunale non ha commesso errori di diritto dichiarando, contrariamente a quanto aveva sostenuto la società, che la Commissione aveva applicato detto metodo in maniera identica a tutte le società controllanti interessate, compresa la AOI.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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An appeal, on a point or points of law only, may be brought before the Court of Justice against a judgment or order of the General Court.
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Avverso le sentenze o ordinanze del Tribunale può essere presentata impugnazione alla Corte di giustizia, limitatamente alle questioni di diritto.
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In principle, the appeal does not have suspensive effect.
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In linea di principio, l'impugnazione non ha effetti sospensivi.
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If the appeal is admissible and well founded, the Court of Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court.
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Se essa è ricevibile e fondata, la Corte annulla la decisione del Tribunale.
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Where the state of the proceedings so permits, the Court of Justice may itself give final judgment in the case.
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Nel caso in cui la causa sia matura per essere decisa, la Corte stessa può pronunciarsi definitivamente sulla controversia;
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Otherwise, it refers the case back to the General Court, which is bound by the decision given by the Court of Justice on the appeal.
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in caso contrario, rinvia la causa al Tribunale, vincolato dalla decisione emanata dalla Corte in sede di impugnazione.
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
The Court confirms the judgments of the General Court
reducing the fines imposed by the Commission on Alliance One International
Inc.and its subsidiary Agroexpansión SA for their participation in a cartel on
the raw tobacco market in Spain
The Court also dismisses the cross-appeal brought by the
European Commission
Agroexpansión SA is one of four undertakings engaged in the
initial processing of raw tobacco in Spain.
Deltafina SpA, an Italian company which also processes raw
tobacco, was the principal purchaser of that product on the Spanish market.
Agroexpansión, originally a family business, was purchased in
1997 by Intabex Netherlands BV.
At that time Intabex belonged to the Intabex group of
companies, which had been acquired by Dimon Inc.in April 1997.
Alliance One International Inc (‘AOI’), established in the
United States, is the result of a merger, carried out in 2005, of Dimon and the
American company Standard Commercial Corp.
In 2001 the Commission carried out inspections at the premises
of undertakings which included Agroexpansión, in order to check information that
the processors and the Spanish producers of raw tobacco had infringed the
European rules in relation to anti-competitive practices.
Following those inspections the Commission sent a statement of
objections to 20 undertakings or associations, including the processors,
Deltafina, Dimon and Intabex.
On 20 October 2004 the Commission adopted a decision in which
it declared that a horizontal cartel had been entered into and implemented on
the Spanish raw tobacco market by the processors and Deltafina.
The object of that cartel was to fix each year, in the period
from 1996 to 2001, the average delivery price for each variety and grade of raw
tobacco and to share out the quantities of each variety of raw tobacco that each
of the processors could purchase from the producers.
Between 1999 and 2001 the processors and Deltafina also agreed
price brackets per quality grade for each raw tobacco variety as well as average
minimum prices per producer and producer group.
The Commission imposed fines on the undertakings and
associations concerned.
In calculating the fine, the Commission granted to
Agroexpansión a 20% reduction, on the basis of its cooperation, the final amount
being €2.59 million, Dimon being held jointly and severally liable for payment
of that fine.
The two undertakings brought two separate actions before the
General Court of the European Union for the annulment of that decision or,
alternatively, for reduction of the fine imposed.
By two judgments delivered in 2011, the General Court, first,
granted to Agroexpansión, on the basis of its cooperation, a further reduction
of 5% of its fine in addition to the reduction of 20% already granted by the
Commission and fixed at €2.43 million the final amount of the fine imposed on
Agroexpansión.
Secondly, in relation to AOI (formerly Dimon), the General
Court held that Dimon could not be held jointly and severally liable for the
infringement before 18 November 1997 (the date of Intabex’s purchase of
Agroexpansión).
Consequently, the General Court reduced the rate of increase
applied to the starting amount of the fine imposed on AOI because of the
duration of the infringement from 50% to 35%.
In addition, the General Court applied to AOI the same further
reduction of 5% which it had granted to Agroexpansión, on the basis of the
latter’s cooperation, the final amount of Agroexpansión’s fine for which AOI was
also liable was therefore set at €2.19 million.
AOI brought these appeals before the Court of Justice in order
that those judgments might be set aside.
The Commission also brought a cross?appeal against the
judgments of the General Court.
By today’s judgments, the Court dismisses the appeals brought
by AOI and the cross-appeal brought by the Commission and confirms the judgments
of the General Court.
The Court rejects the argument raised by AOI that the General
Court erred in law by re-interpreting the Commission’s decision, following
explanations which were produced by the Commission subsequent to that decision,
in order to mitigate the infringements of the obligation to state reasons and
the principle of equal treatment allegedly committed by the Commission in its
decision.
The Court refers, first, to its settled case-law that where
the entire capital of a subsidiary is held by its parent company, the Commission
may presume that the parent company actually exercises decisive influence over
the commercial policy of its subsidiary.
In such a situation, the Commission may impose a fine on the
parent company without first having to establish the personal involvement of the
parent company in the infringement.
However, that case-law does not imply that the Commission is
bound to rely exclusively on that presumption, the Commission being able to
establish that a parent company actually exercises decisive influence over its
subsidiary by means of other evidence (the ‘dual basis’ method).
In this case, the Commission had waived reliance on the
application solely of the presumption of decisive influence and had decided to
rely on factual evidence serving to establish that the parent companies actually
exercised a decisive influence on their subsidiary.
The Court states that the General Court did not exceed the
limits of its jurisdiction because the findings made by the General Court in
relation to that method were based on its interpretation of the Commission’s
decision and not solely on the explanations produced by the Commission after the
adoption of the decision.
Further, the General Court did not err in law in finding,
contrary to what was claimed by AOI, that the Commission had applied that method
in the same way to all the parent companies concerned, including AOI.
NOTE:
An appeal, on a point or points of law only, may be brought
before the Court of Justice against a judgment or order of the General Court.
In principle, the appeal does not have suspensive effect.
If the appeal is admissible and well founded, the Court of
Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court.
Where the state of the proceedings so permits, the Court of
Justice may itself give final judgment in the case.
Otherwise, it refers the case back to the General Court, which
is bound by the decision given by the Court of Justice on the appeal.
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