Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 3 May 2012 — Legris Industries v Commission (Case C‑289/11 P)

Appeal — Competition — Cartels — Copper fittings and copper alloy fittings sector — Commission decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC — Fines — Parent companies and subsidiaries — Imputability of the unlawful conduct

1. Appeals — Grounds — Plea submitted for the first time in the context of the appeal — Inadmissibility — Entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon — New fact warranting the late introduction of a head of claim based on breach of the right to a fair hearing — Excluded (Art. 6(2) TEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, Arts 42(2) and 113(2)) (see paras 33, 35, 36)

2. Competition — Rules of the Union — Infringements — Attribution — Parent company and subsidiaries — Unilateral conduct — Criteria for assessment — Presumption that a parent company exerts a decisive influence over its wholly-owned subsidiaries — Rebuttable — Burden of proof (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2)) (see paras 45‑47)

3. Appeals — Grounds — Mistaken assessment of the facts — Inadmissibility — Review by the Court of the findings of fact — Possible only where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted (Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.) (see paras 51, 53)

Re:

Operative part

The Court:

1.Dismisses the appeal;

2.Orders Legris Industries SA to pay the costs.