|
PARALLEL TEXTS
La Corte respinge la domanda della Odile Jacob diretta all’annullamento della sentenza del Tribunale che aveva dichiarato compatibile con il mercato comune l’acquisto della Vivendi Universal Publishing da parte della Lagardère
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-12-137_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-12-137_it.htm
Data documento: 06-11-2012
1 |
The Court dismisses Odile Jacob’s claim that the judgment of the General Court declaring Lagardère’s purchase of Vivendi Universal Publishing to be compatible with the common market should be set aside
|
La Corte respinge la domanda della Odile Jacob diretta all’annullamento della sentenza del Tribunale che aveva dichiarato compatibile con il mercato comune l’acquisto della Vivendi Universal Publishing da parte della Lagardère
|
2 |
The Court confirms the annulment of the decision approving Wendel Investissement as purchaser of the sold assets of Vivendi Universal Publishing
|
La Corte conferma l’annullamento della decisione di autorizzazione della Wendel Investissement quale acquirente degli attivi retroceduti della Vivendi Universal Publishing
|
3 |
In September 2002 Vivendi Universal SA (‘VU’) disposed of its book publishing assets held in Europe by its subsidiary Vivendi Universal Publishing (‘VUP’), a leading French-language publisher.
|
Nel settembre del 2002, la Vivendi Universal («VU») ha ceduto le proprie attività di editoria libraria detenute in Europa tramite la sua controllata Vivendi Universal Publishing («VUP»), principale editore francofono.
|
4 |
The Lagardère group declared its interest in purchasing those assets.
|
Il gruppo Lagardère si è candidato per l’acquisto di tali attività.
|
5 |
It became apparent however that VU wanted to complete the sale as quickly as possible, without waiting until prior clearance was obtained from the competent competition authorities.
|
È tuttavia emerso che la VU intendeva realizzare la vendita in tempi brevi, senza attendere la previa autorizzazione delle competenti autorità della concorrenza.
|
6 |
Lagardère therefore asked Natexis Banques Populaires SA (‘NBP’) to take its place, through the intermediary of one of its subsidiaries created in order to purchase the target assets from VUP, hold them on a temporary basis, then, once clearance of the proposed purchase by Lagardère of the target assets was obtained, sell them back to Lagardère (the nominee holding arrangement).
|
La Lagardère ha quindi chiesto alla Natexis Banques Populaires SA («NBP») di sostituirsi ad essa tramite una delle sue controllate creata ai fini dell’acquisizione degli elementi dell’attivo in offerta presso la VUP, della loro detenzione a titolo provvisorio e quindi, una volta ottenuta l’autorizzazione del progetto di acquisizione degli elementi dell’attivo da parte della Lagardère, della loro rivendita a quest’ultima (operazione di conferimento fiduciario).
|
7 |
On 14 April 2003 Lagardère notified the Commission of its proposed purchase of the VUP assets.
|
Il 14 aprile 2003, la Lagardère ha proceduto alla notifica alla Commissione del suo progetto di acquisto degli elementi dell’attivo della VUP.
|
8 |
By decision of 7 January 2004 the Commission authorised the concentration subject to Lagardère agreeing to a number of commitments.
|
Con decisione del 7 gennaio 2004 la Commissione ha autorizzato l’operazione di concentrazione con riserva dell’assunzione da parte della Lagardère di alcuni impegni.
|
9 |
The Commission considered that, in the absence of those commitments, the concentration would lead in a number of markets to the creation or strengthening of dominant positions as a result of which effective competition would be significantly impeded.
|
La Commissione ha ritenuto che, in assenza di tali impegni, l’operazione di concentrazione avrebbe portato, su numerosi mercati, alla creazione o al rafforzamento di posizioni dominanti da cui sarebbe risultato un ostacolo significativo a una concorrenza effettiva.
|
10 |
Accordingly, Lagardère undertook to divest itself of a substantial part of the VUP assets. Lagardère made overtures to a number of undertakings as possible purchasers of those assets.
|
La Lagardère si è pertanto impegnata a retrocedere una parte considerevole degli elementi dell’attivo della VUP e ha preso contatto con diverse imprese che avrebbero potuto rilevarli.
|
11 |
One of those undertakings was Éditions Odile Jacob (‘Odile Jacob’) which expressed its interest in that transaction.
|
Tra queste ultime figurava la società Éditions Odile Jacob («Odile Jacob») che ha manifestato il suo interesse per l’operazione.
|
12 |
On the conclusion of the process of selecting the purchaser of the sold VUP assets, Lagardère accepted the offer of another undertaking, Wendel Investissement.
|
In esito al procedimento di selezione dell’acquirente degli attivi retroceduti della VUP, la Lagardère ha scelto l’offerta di un’altra impresa, la Wendel Investissement.
|
13 |
In February 2004, with the approval of the Commission, Lagardère appointed the auditing firm S. as a trustee.
|
Nel febbraio del 2004, in seguito all’approvazione della Commissione, la Lagardère ha nominato lo studio di revisione contabile S. in qualità di mandatario.
|
14 |
On 5 July 2004 the firm S. submitted to the Commission a report with the conclusion that Wendel Investissement’s purchase of the assets was compatible with the criteria defined by the Commission.
|
Il 5 luglio 2004, questo ha presentato alla Commissione un rapporto in cui concludeva che l’acquisto degli elementi dell’attivo da parte della Wendel Investissement era compatibile con i criteri fissati dalla Commissione.
|
15 |
Consequently, by decision of 30 July 2004 the Commission approved the purchase of the assets by Wendel Investissement (the approval decision).
|
Di conseguenza, con decisione del 30 luglio 2004 la Commissione ha approvato l’acquisito degli elementi dell’attivo da parte della Wendel Investissement (decisione di autorizzazione).
|
16 |
Odile Jacob brought actions before the General Court seeking the annulment of the decision of 7 January 2004 authorising the VUP/Lagardère concentration and of the decision of 30 July 2004 approving Wendel Investissement as purchaser of the assets sold.
|
La Odile Jacob ha adito il Tribunale per ottenere l’annullamento della decisione del 7 gennaio 2004 che autorizzava la concentrazione VUP/Lagardère, nonché della decisione del 30 luglio 2004 che autorizzava la Wendel Investissement quale acquirente degli attivi retroceduti.
|
17 |
By two judgments delivered on 13 September 2010, the General Court dismissed Odile Jacob’s action against the decision of 7 January 2004 and decided to annul the approval decision of 30 July.
|
Con due sentenze pronunciate il 13 settembre 2010, il Tribunale ha respinto il ricorso proposto dalla Odile Jacob contro la decisione del 7 gennaio 2004 e ha deciso di annullare la decisione di autorizzazione del 30 luglio 2004.
|
18 |
Those two judgments are the subject of separate appeals before the Court.
|
Queste due sentenze sono state oggetto di impugnazioni distinte dinanzi alla Corte.
|
19 |
As regards the first case (C-551/10 P), the Court dismisses the appeal brought by Odile Jacob.
|
Per quanto riguarda la prima causa (C-551/10 P), la Corte respinge l’impugnazione proposta dalla Odile Jacob.
|
20 |
The criticism made by Odile Jacob of the General Court was, inter alia, that it erred in its assessment of the meaning of a concentration and of the characterisation of the nominee holding arrangement.
|
L’editore criticava in particolare il Tribunale per avere commesso un errore di valutazione della nozione di concentrazione e di qualificazione dell’operazione di conferimento fiduciario.
|
21 |
In that regard, the Court confirms that the legal characterisation of the nominee holding arrangement is of no relevance to the legality of the Commission’s decision.
|
A tale proposito, la Corte conferma che la qualificazione giuridica dell’operazione di conferimento fiduciario non incide sulla legittimità della decisione della Commissione.
|
22 |
The Court holds that, even if the transactions carried out enabled Lagardère to acquire earlier sole control, or control jointly with NBP, of the target assets, that circumstance had no consequences other than that the notification of the concentration at issue might be found to have been made late.
|
La Corte considera che, anche supponendo che le transazioni effettuate abbiano permesso alla Lagardère di acquisire prima il controllo, unico o congiunto con la NBP, degli elementi dell’attivo in offerta, tale circostanza non avrebbe comportato altra conseguenza se non la constatazione del ritardo con il quale la notifica dell’operazione di concentrazione è stata effettuata.
|
23 |
The Court adds that although such findings may entail the penalties prescribed by EU law - inter alia, the imposition of a fine - they cannot lead to the annulment of the Commission decision, since they have no relevance to the compatibility of the concentration at issue with the common market.
|
La Corte precisa che, sebbene tali constatazioni possano eventualmente comportare sanzioni previste dal diritto dell’Unione - in particolare l’imposizione di un’ammenda - esse non possono sfociare nell’annullamento della decisione della Commissione, non avendo alcuna incidenza sulla compatibilità dell’operazione di concentrazione con il mercato comune.
|
24 |
As regards Cases C-553/10 P and C-554/10 P, the Court dismisses the appeals brought by the Commission and Lagardère against the judgment of the General Court whereby it annulled the decision approving Wendel Investissement.
|
Per quanto concerne le altre cause (C-553/10 P e C-554/10 P), la Corte respinge l’impugnazione proposta dalla Commissione e dalla Lagardère contro la sentenza con cui il Tribunale ha annullato la decisione di autorizzazione della Wendel Investissement.
|
25 |
The Court states, first, that the trustee is to be independent of Lagardère and of VUP, and is not to be exposed to any conflict of interests.
|
La Corte rammenta anzitutto che il mandatario dev’essere indipendente dalla Lagardère e dalla VUP e non essere esposto a conflitti d’interesse.
|
26 |
The Court observes that, in the present case, the General Court correctly found that the trustee, B., as president of the firm S., had carried out the duties of a member of the executive board of the legal entity responsible for managing the assets sold and that the same firm had been appointed as trustee.
|
La Corte rileva che, nella fattispecie, giustamente il Tribunale ha valutato che il mandatario, B., in qualità di presidente dello studio S., aveva esercitato le funzioni di membro del comitato esecutivo dell’entità giuridica incaricata di gestire gli attivi retroceduti e che tale medesimo studio era stato nominato mandatario.
|
27 |
Accordingly, for a certain time, B. carried out both the duties of the independent trustee and those of a member of the VUP executive board.
|
Pertanto, per un certo periodo, B ha esercitato contemporaneamente le funzioni di mandatario indipendente e di membro del comitato esecutivo della VUP.
|
28 |
The Court concludes that the General Court did not err in deciding that the trustee therefore did not satisfy the condition of independence required by Lagardère’s commitments, which was sufficient ground for the annulment of the approval decision.
|
La Corte conclude che il Tribunale non ha commesso errori nel decidere che il mandatario non rispondeva alla condizione di indipendenza richiesta dagli impegni della Lagardère, circostanza sufficiente a giustificare l’annullamento della decisione di autorizzazione.
|
29 |
It was, inter alia, claimed that the General Court erred in failing to examine whether that lack of independence actually had an effect on the Commission’s decision or whether, without that irregularity, the content of that decision might have been different.
|
In particolare, è stato contestato al Tribunale di non avere esaminato se tale assenza di indipendenza abbia influito in concreto sulla decisione della Commissione, ovvero se, in mancanza di tale irregolarità, la decisione avrebbe potuto avere un contenuto diverso.
|
30 |
The Court states that a lack of independence is itself sufficient ground for the annulment of a Commission decision.
|
La Corte rileva che la mancanza d’indipendenza è di per sé sufficiente per annullare la decisione della Commissione.
|
31 |
Given that the General Court found that the trustee was not independent of the parties, it was under no obligation to examine whether that trustee actually acted in a way which was evidence of his lack of independence.
|
Avendo accertato che il mandatario non era indipendente dalle parti, il Tribunale non era obbligato a esaminare se questi avesse agito in concreto con modalità attestanti la sua mancanza di indipendenza.
|
32 |
NOTE:
|
IMPORTANTE:
|
33 |
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.
|
Avverso le sentenze o ordinanze del Tribunale può essere presentata impugnazione alla Corte di giustizia, limitatamente alle questioni di diritto.
|
34 |
In principle, the appeal does not have suspensive effect.
|
In linea di principio, l'impugnazione non ha effetti sospensivi.
|
35 |
If the appeal is admissible and well founded, the Court of Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court.
|
Se essa è ricevibile e fondata, la Corte annulla la decisione del Tribunale.
|
36 |
Where the state of the proceedings so permits, the Court of Justice may itself give final judgment in the case.
|
Nel caso in cui la causa sia matura per essere decisa, la Corte stessa può pronunciarsi definitivamente sulla controversia;
|
37 |
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. |
in caso contrario, rinvia la causa al Tribunale, vincolato dalla decisione emanata dalla Corte in sede di impugnazione. |
|
LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
The Court dismisses Odile Jacob’s claim that the judgment of the General
Court declaring Lagardère’s purchase of Vivendi Universal Publishing to be
compatible with the common market should be set aside
The Court confirms the annulment of the decision approving Wendel
Investissement as purchaser of the sold assets of Vivendi Universal Publishing
In September 2002 Vivendi Universal SA (‘VU’) disposed of its book
publishing assets held in Europe by its subsidiary Vivendi Universal Publishing
(‘VUP’), a leading French-language publisher.
The Lagardère group declared its interest in purchasing those assets.
It became apparent however that VU wanted to complete the sale as
quickly as possible, without waiting until prior clearance was obtained from the
competent competition authorities.
Lagardère therefore asked Natexis Banques Populaires SA (‘NBP’) to take
its place, through the intermediary of one of its subsidiaries created in order
to purchase the target assets from VUP, hold them on a temporary basis, then,
once clearance of the proposed purchase by Lagardère of the target assets was
obtained, sell them back to Lagardère (the nominee holding arrangement).
On 14 April 2003 Lagardère notified the Commission of its proposed
purchase of the VUP assets.
By decision of 7 January 2004 the Commission authorised the
concentration subject to Lagardère agreeing to a number of commitments.
The Commission considered that, in the absence of those commitments,
the concentration would lead in a number of markets to the creation or
strengthening of dominant positions as a result of which effective competition
would be significantly impeded.
Accordingly, Lagardère undertook to divest itself of a substantial part
of the VUP assets. Lagardère made overtures to a number of undertakings as
possible purchasers of those assets.
One of those undertakings was Éditions Odile Jacob (‘Odile Jacob’)
which expressed its interest in that transaction.
On the conclusion of the process of selecting the purchaser of the sold
VUP assets, Lagardère accepted the offer of another undertaking, Wendel
Investissement.
In February 2004, with the approval of the Commission, Lagardère
appointed the auditing firm S. as a trustee.
On 5 July 2004 the firm S. submitted to the Commission a report with
the conclusion that Wendel Investissement’s purchase of the assets was
compatible with the criteria defined by the Commission.
Consequently, by decision of 30 July 2004 the Commission approved the
purchase of the assets by Wendel Investissement (the approval decision).
Odile Jacob brought actions before the General Court seeking the
annulment of the decision of 7 January 2004 authorising the VUP/Lagardère
concentration and of the decision of 30 July 2004 approving Wendel
Investissement as purchaser of the assets sold.
By two judgments delivered on 13 September 2010, the General Court
dismissed Odile Jacob’s action against the decision of 7 January 2004 and
decided to annul the approval decision of 30 July .
Those two judgments are the subject of separate appeals before the
Court.
As regards the first case (C-551/10 P), the Court dismisses the appeal
brought by Odile Jacob.
The criticism made by Odile Jacob of the General Court was, inter alia, that it
erred in its assessment of the meaning of a concentration and of the
characterisation of the nominee holding arrangement.
In that regard, the Court confirms that the legal characterisation of
the nominee holding arrangement is of no relevance to the legality of the
Commission’s decision.
The Court holds that, even if the transactions carried out enabled
Lagardère to acquire earlier sole control, or control jointly with NBP, of the
target assets, that circumstance had no consequences other than that the
notification of the concentration at issue might be found to have been made
late.
The Court adds that although such findings may entail the penalties
prescribed by EU law - inter alia, the imposition of a fine - they cannot lead
to the annulment of the Commission decision, since they have no relevance to the
compatibility of the concentration at issue with the common market.
As regards Cases C-553/10 P and C-554/10 P, the Court dismisses the
appeals brought by the Commission and Lagardère against the judgment of the
General Court whereby it annulled the decision approving Wendel Investissement.
The Court states, first, that the trustee is to be independent of
Lagardère and of VUP, and is not to be exposed to any conflict of interests.
The Court observes that, in the present case, the General Court
correctly found that the trustee, B., as president of the firm S., had carried
out the duties of a member of the executive board of the legal entity
responsible for managing the assets sold and that the same firm had been
appointed as trustee.
Accordingly, for a certain time, B. carried out both the duties of the
independent trustee and those of a member of the VUP executive board.
The Court concludes that the General Court did not err in deciding that
the trustee therefore did not satisfy the condition of independence required by
Lagardère’s commitments, which was sufficient ground for the annulment of the
approval decision.
It was, inter alia, claimed that the General Court erred in failing to
examine whether that lack of independence actually had an effect on the
Commission’s decision or whether, without that irregularity, the content of that
decision might have been different.
The Court states that a lack of independence is itself sufficient
ground for the annulment of a Commission decision.
Given that the General Court found that the trustee was not independent
of the parties, it was under no obligation to examine whether that trustee
actually acted in a way which was evidence of his lack of independence.
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. |