Compagnie générale maritime and Others v Commission of the European Communities (T-86/95)

Judgment of 28 Feb 2002

law://eu/cjeu/1995/t-86-95/para_487@2026-11-13

487Sixthly, it should be noted that in its Decision 94/980, the Commission did not impose a fine on the companies who were party to that agreement, whereas notonly did the contested agreement also provide for the fixing of prices for the inland part of intermodal transport, but also contained other serious infringements of the competition rules. It is true that the fact that the Commission has notimposed a fine on the perpetrator of a breach of the competition rules cannot in itself prevent a fine from being imposed on the perpetrator of a similar infringement. The principle of equality of treatment cannot be invoked where there is illegality. Nevertheless, that decision, which was adopted very shortly before the contested decision, shows that the Commission itself considered that, having regard to all the circumstances, the agreement in question did not necessarily require that a fine be imposed on the undertakings party to that agreement. It should be added that before the contested decision the Commission had not imposed a fine on any shipping company or liner conference for fixing the price of the inland part of intermodal transport, whilst, according to the information supplied by the applicants and not challenged by the Commission, virtually all conferences enter into agreements fixing such prices.

Compagnie générale maritime and Others v Commission of the European Communities (T-86/95)

Key facts

History · 1 version

Connections