By Leo Gasteen
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has upheld a fine of EUR 12.6 million originally imposed by the Commission in 2003 for anti-competitive behaviour in the German internal market.
The ruling comes after Deutsche Telecom failed to overturn a fine imposed by the Commission before the then Court of First Instance (now referred to as the General Court) in 2008.
In 2003, the Commission deemed that the company was abusing its dominant market position for fixed lines by charging competitors higher prices for network access than its own end users. As a result, competitors were forced to charge higher prices to their high end users.
The ECJ has ruled that the Commission was correct to impose such a fine for anti-competitive behaviour. It also noted that the Court of First Instance committed no legal error in its dismissal of Deutsche Telekom’s action against the Commission.
Background
Before the full liberalisation of the telecoms market in Germany on 1 August 1996, Deutsche Telekom enjoyed a legal natural monopoly of fixed-line telecommunications services.
In 2003, the Commission imposed a fine of EUR 12.6 million, following the lodging of various complaints from Deutsche Telekom’s competitors, regarding the fixing of prices.
European Court of Justice – Justice and Application – Case 280/08 Full Text
