General Court confirms Commission could impose higher fine during standard procedure than range proposed during settlement discussions.

Summary -

On 20 May 2015 the General Court (GC) dismissed the Roullier group’s (Roullier) appeal against the Commission’s decision in the animal feed phosphates cartel. Roullier argued that the Commission, by imposing a higher fine in its infringement decision against the group than that initially proposed during settlement procedures, effectively penalised Roullier for deciding to abandon settlement discussions. In rejecting Roullier’s argument, the GC found that the Commission was entitled to depart from the (lower) fine range proposed during settlement discussions when adopting its decision following the “standard” procedure.