41It is true that, in order to establish that conduct is abusive, a competition authority does not necessarily have to demonstrate that that conduct actually produced anti-competitive effects. The purpose of Article 102 TFEU is to penalise abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position within the internal market or in a substantial part of it, irrespective of whether such practice has proved successful (judgment of 12 May 2022, Servizio Elettrico Nazionale and Others, C‑377/20, EU:C:2022:379, paragraph 53 and the case-law cited). Accordingly, a competition authority may find that there has been an infringement of Article 102 TFEU by establishing that, during the period in which the conduct in question was implemented, that conduct had, in the circumstances of the case, the ability to restrict competition on the merits, despite its lack of effect.
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