The General Court is made up of two judges from each Member State. The judges are appointed by common accord of the governments of the Member States after consultation of a panel responsible for giving an opinion on candidates’ suitability to perform the duties of Judge. Their term of office is six years, and is renewable. They appoint their President, for a period of three years, from amongst themselves. They appoint a Registrar for a term of office of six years. The Judges perform their duties in a totally impartial and independent manner. Unlike the Court of Justice, the General Court does not have permanent Advocates General. However, that task may, in exceptional circumstances, be carried out by a Judge. Cases before the General Court are heard by Chambers of five or three Judges or, in some cases, as a single Judge. It may also sit as a Grand Chamber (fifteen Judges) when this is justified by the legal complexity or importance of the case. The Presidents of the Chambers of five Judges are elected from amongst the Judges for a period of three years. The General Court has its own Registry, but uses the administrative and linguistic services of the institution for its other requirements.
275
The General Court upholds the Commission’s decision finding that the national railway company of Lithuania abused its dominant position on the Lithuanian rail freight market* Lietuvos geležinkeliai AB (‘LG’), the national railway company of Lithuania, both manages railway infrastructure and (...)
830
The General Court annuls in part the Commission’s inspection decisions following suspicions of anticompetitive practices by a number of French undertakings in the distribution sector* The Commission has failed to show that it had sufficiently strong evidence to suspect exchanges of information (...)
234
The Spanish tax system applicable to certain finance lease agreements entered into by shipyards constitutes an aid scheme* The unlawful State aid granted under that system must be recovered from the beneficiaries In 2006, the European Commission received a number of complaints concerning the (...)
679
The General Court of the European Union annuls the decision taken by the Commission regarding the Irish tax rulings in favour of Apple* The General Court annuls the contested decision because the Commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage (...)
275
The General Court orders that the fine imposed on Infineon for its participation in a cartel in the smart card chip market be reduced by almost €6 million, from €82,784,000 to €76,871,600* The Commission took insufficient account of the limited number of the anticompetitive contacts which (...)
575
The General Court annuls the Commission’s decision to block the proposed acquisition of Telefónica UK by Hutchison 3G UK in the sector of the mobile telephony market* On 11 May 2016, [1] the Commission adopted a decision in which it blocked, under the Merger Regulation, [2] the proposed (...)
318
The General Court dismisses the actions against the Commission decision declaring illegal the aid from Italy to several airlines serving Sardinia* The operators of the Sardinian airports were not the beneficiaries of the aid but merely intermediaries between the Autonomous Region and the (...)
37
The General Court reduces the fines imposed by the Commission on Panasonic and on Toshiba for their participation in a cartel on the European market for tubes for television sets* However, it confirms the fines imposed on the other members of the cartel By decision of 5 December 2012, [1] the (...)
36
The General Court reduces the fine imposed on Arkema and its subsidiaries for their participation in a cartel in the methacrylates sector from €219.1 million to €113.3 million* However, the Court upholds the fines imposed on the parent companies Total and Elf Aquitaine By decision of 31 May (...)
28
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE ANNULS THE DECISION REFUSING CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT FOR THE PUBLISHED VERSION OF A COMMISSION DECISION ON CARTELS* For the Commission to be entitled to disclose to the public the details of an undertaking’s infringement in respect of which proceedings are time (...)
26
THE COURT ANNULS A COMMISSION DECISION REJECTING IN ITS ENTIRETY A REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE FILE IN A COMPETITION CASE CONCERNING AUSTRIAN BANKS* Concrete, individual examination of the documents referred to in a request for access is one of the elementary duties of an (...)
38
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE REDUCES THE FINES IMPOSED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON STEEL TUBE PRODUCERS BY 13 MILLION EUROS The Commission was unable to produce evidence covering the entire duration of the infringement By a decision of 8 December 1999, [1] the European Commission ordered (...)
40
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE REDUCES THE FINES IMPOSED BY THE DECISION OF THE COMMISSION AGAINST AN ANTICOMPETITIVE CARTEL IN THE GRAPHITE ELECTRODE MARKET The total amount of the fines is reduced from EUR 207.2 million to EUR 152.8 million In a decision of 2001, the Commission found the (...)
30
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CONFIRMS THE SUBSTANCE OF THE COMMISSION’S DECISION SANCTIONING ANTI-COMPETITIVE CARTELS IN THE GREECE-ITALY SHIPPING SECTOR* Fines imposed on Ventouris Group Enterprises SA and Adriatica di Navigazione SpA alone were reduced on the ground that the Commission’s (...)
27
THE COURT DISMISSES SIX OF THE EIGHT APPEALS BROUGHT BY STEEL UNDERTAKINGS AND THEIR TRADE ASSOCIATION EUROFER WHICH HAD BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF ENGAGING IN A CARTEL* The Court annuls two judgments of the Court of First Instance: that concerning ARBED SA in its entirety and that concerning (...)
33
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE ANNULS A COMMISSION DECISION PROHIBITING THE MERGER OF TETRA LAVAL AND SIDEL AND THE RELATED DIVESTITURE DECISION.* The economic analysis of the immediate anti-competitive effects, of conglomerate effects and of the foreseeable conduct of the companies in question (...)
42
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CONFIRMS THE EXISTENCE OF A CARTEL IN THE EUROPEAN DISTRICT HEATING MARKET.* The fines imposed by the European Commission are generally upheld by the Court of First Instance, the total amount being EUR 83,410,000. However, the fines imposed on two undertakings have (...)
26
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE GENERALLY CONFIRMS THE COMMISSION DECISION FINING 12 PVC PRODUCERS FOR PARTICIPATING IN AN ILLEGAL CARTEL* However, the Commission fines totalling 19 250 000 euros are reduced in respect of three undertakings In October 1983, following investigations conducted in (...)
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