Judgment_paragraph 249 · Gruber + Weber GmbH & Co. KG v Commission of the European Communities (T-310/94)

249As to the applicant's submission that it did not deliberately commit any infringement, the Commission observes that for an infringement to be regarded as having been committed intentionally it suffices that the undertaking could not have been unaware that the contested conduct had as its object the restriction of competition (Case 246/86 Belasco and Others ν Commission [1989] ECR 2117, paragraph 41). Moreover, having regard to the gravity and obviousness of the infringement, which is of a type expressly referred to in Article 85(1) of the Treaty, the applicant cannot seriously dispute that it was aware of the cartel's anti-competitive object (ICI ν Commission, cited above, paragraphs 344 and 353). The fact that the participants in the cartel attempted to keep their agreements secret proves that they were aware of the unlawfulness of their behaviour (Belasco and Others ν Commission, cited above, paragraph 41, and Case T-15/89 Chemie Linz ν Commission [1992] ECR II-1275, paragraph 350).

Gruber + Weber GmbH & Co. KG v Commission of the European Communities (T-310/94)

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