81Nor can reliance on the Commission's previous practice in taking decisions be accepted. It is settled case-law that in the context of Regulation No 17 the Commission has a margin of discretion when fixing the amount of fines in order that it may channel the conduct of undertakings towards observance of the competition rules (Case T-150/99 Martinelli v Commission [1995] ECR II-1165, paragraph 59; Case T-49/95 Van Megen Sports v Commission [1996] ECR II-1799, paragraph 53; and Case T-229/94 Deutsche Bahn v Commission [1997] ECR II-1689, paragraph 127). The fact that the Commission, in the past, imposed fines of a certain level for certain types of infringements does not mean that it is estopped from raising that level within the limits indicated in Regulation No 17 if that is necessary 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, paragraph 109; Case T-12/89 Solvay v Commission [1992] ECR II-907, paragraph 309; and Case T-304/94 Europa Carton v Commission [1998] ECR II-869, paragraph 89). On the contrary, the proper application of the Community competition rules requires that the Commission may at any time adjust the level of fines to the needs of that policy (Musique diffusion française and Others v Commission, paragraph 109; and Case T-23/99 LR AF 1998 v Commission [2002] ECR II-1705, paragraph 237).
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