96Secondly, an intermediate figure such as that may be justified by the very nature of the infringement, its actual effect, the geographical extent of the market affected, the fact that the fine must have a deterrent effect and the size of the undertaking in question, all of which were taken into account by the Commission in this case. The Commission was right to classify the infringement as ‘very serious’ in that the applicant participated in a horizontal agreement the object of which was to set price objectives and sales quotas and to establish a system for exchanging information on sales volumes. Moreover, that agreement had a real effect on the lysine market in the EEA, causing an artificial price increase and a restriction of sales volumes. As regards the size of the undertakings and the deterrent effect of the fines, the Commission was entitled to have regard to the total turnover of the undertakings concerned. According to case-law, total turnover is in fact the figure which gives an indication of the size of the undertaking (see, to that effect, Musique diffusion française and Others v Commission, cited above, paragraph 121) and of its economic power, which must be known in order to assess whether a fine will deter it.
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