Judgment_paragraph 69 · Compagnie maritime belge transports SA and Compagnie maritime belge SA, Dafra-Lines A/S, Deutsche Afrika-Linien GmbH & Co. and Nedlloyd Lijnen BV v Commission of the European Communities (T-24/93, T-25/93, T-26/93, T-28/93)

69In the applicants' view, a dominant position cannot be deduced merely from the existence of high market shares (Case 22/76 United Brands v Commission [1978] ECR 207 and Case C-62/86 Akzo v Commission [1991] ECR I-3359, paragraph 60). In this instance, however, the Commission based itself only on the market share held by Cewal. In any event, the fact that Cewal has an exclusive right in respect of maritime transport between Zaire and ports in northern Europe, which is imposed by unilateral, sovereign act of the Zaïre authorities, constitutes an exceptional circumstance which may deprive the market shares of their possibly determinative nature {Akzo v Commission, paragraph 60). Moreover, the Commission did not take sufficient account of the fact that the commercial policy of Cewal and its members was largely dictated by the Zaire authorities.

Compagnie maritime belge transports SA and Compagnie maritime belge SA, Dafra-Lines A/S, Deutsche Afrika-Linien GmbH & Co. and Nedlloyd Lijnen BV v Commission of the European Communities (T-24/93, T-25/93, T-26/93, T-28/93)

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