333As for Dalmine's arguments that it did not commit the infringement found in Article 1 of the contested decision deliberately, the Commission established that it was a party to an agreement having an anticompetitive object. Where an agreement is specifically intended to restrict competition, the participation of an undertaking in that agreement can only be deliberate, irrespective of the structural considerations involved. Moreover, it is clear from the case-law that undertakings cannot justify having taken part in an infringement of the competition rules by claiming that they were forced into it by the conduct of other traders (see, to that effect, Cement, paragraph 44 above, paragraph 2557). Thus, Dalmine cannot rely on the market structure or the conduct of its competitors to exculpate it in the present case.
Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.