The EU Court of Justice Advocate General Sharpston addresses the scope of the EU Courts’ jurisdiction over antitrust cases and fines (KME)

AG Sharpston’s Opinion in KME: a new step toward full appellate jurisdiction in antitrust cases (imposing fines)?* On February 10, Advocate General (AG) Sharpston issued her Opinion in the KME case (C-272/09 P – here), an appeal brought before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against a judgment whereby the General Court (GC) dismissed the applicants’ request for a reduction of the fine imposed by the EU Commission to sanction their participation in the copper industrial tubes cartel. Interestingly, the AG ventured a few considerations on the nature of EU antitrust decisions and on the due process requirements arising from Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on the right to a fair trial. As indicated in a previous post (see here), there is a hot debate ongoing