Judgment_paragraph 254 · Manufacture française des pneumatiques Michelin v Commission of the European Communities (T-203/01)

254Secondly, it is in any event permissible for the Commission to increase the level of fines in order to reinforce their deterrent effect. Therefore, the fact that in the past the Commission imposed fines of a particular level for certain types of infringement does not mean that it is estopped from raising that level, within the limits set out in Regulation No 17 and in the Guidelines, if that is necessary in order to ensure the implementation of Community competition policy (Joined Cases 100/80 to 103/80 Musique Diffusion française and Others v Commission [1983] ECR 1825, paragraphs 105 to 108; Case T-13/89 ICI v Commission [1992] ECR II-1021, paragraph 385; and Irish Sugar v Commission, cited at paragraph 54 above, paragraphs 245 to 247). The Commission's previous decision-making practice therefore does not in itself serve as a legal framework for the fines imposed in competition matters, since that framework is defined solely in Regulation No 17 and in the Guidelines (see, in that regard, Case T-23/99 LR AF 1998 v Commission [2002] ECR II-1705, paragraphs 234 and 337).

Manufacture française des pneumatiques Michelin v Commission of the European Communities (T-203/01)

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