The Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed the first instance decision that annulled a fine of 1,060 million euros imposed in 2009 by Brussels on the microprocessor manufacturer Intel.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed the annulment of a fine imposed by the European Commission on Intel, worth 1,060 million euros, for abuse of a dominant position, it was announced this Thursday.
According to a ruling consulted by Lusa, the CJEU confirmed the first instance decision that annulled a fine imposed in 2009 by the community executive on the microprocessor manufacturer based in the United States of America.
The European Commission accused Intel of abusing its dominant position in the microprocessor market x86 to offer loyalty discounts to customers and a desktop reseller.
In 2014, the first instance dismissed in its entirety an appeal brought by Intel to annul the Commission’s decision. The microprocessor manufacturer appealed to the Court of Justice, which overturned the ruling and referred the matter to the General Court.
This time, the first instance partially annulled the decision of the European Commission and eliminated the fine of 1,060 million euros in total. The community executive filed an appeal against this sentence in 2022.
The European Commission alleged that the General Court’s review of the executive’s assessments “was vitiated by procedural irregularities, errors of law and distortion of evidence.”
In this Thursday’s ruling, The CJEU “rejects all the reasons invoked by the Commission”arguing that it is up to the General Court to “examine any argument that seeks to call into question the Commission’s assessments and that may invalidate the conclusions reached at the end of that test.”
The arguments can refer “both to the compatibility of the Commission’s assessments with the principles governing the equally effective competitor test and to the probative value of the factual elements on which the Commission relied,” the CJEU held.
Brussels once again fines the North American company Intel with 376.36 million euros for anti-competitive practices
Source: Observadora
