Gleiss Lutz obtains landmark judgment for HeidelbergCement before the European Court of Justice restricting investigative powers of the European Commission in antitrust proceedings.
In landmark proceedings before the European Court of Justice, Gleiss Lutz has won an appeal for HeidelbergCement AG, annulling a formal request for information of the European Commission and overturning the judgment of the General Court. It is the first time the Court of Justice has imposed clear legal limits with regard to the Commission’s investigative powers in antitrust proceedings when ruling on a formal information request.
The background to the appeal were lengthy antitrust proceedings Lasting almost seven years which were officially closed on 31 July 2015 without a finding of an infringement. The Commission did not find sufficient grounds to support the original suspicion of cartel arrangements in the EEA. Investigations began in November 2008 with dawn raids carried out at various cement manufacturers operating in the EU. In 2011, the Commission issued a decision requesting extensive information. HeidelbergCement AG filed an action for annulment with the General Court for disproportionality and insufficient reasoning of the Information request. On 14 March 2014 the General Court declared the decision valid, despite some concerns. With its judgment of 10 March 2016 the Court of Justice overturned the lower court ruling, confirming HeidelbergCement’s stance.
Following the arguments raised by HeidelbergCement, the Court criticised that the decision under appeal only contained an “excessively succinct, vague and generic — and in some respects, ambiguous — statement of reasons”. According to the Court, this statement of reasons was insufficient given the years of preliminary investigations that had preceded it. This judgment is likely to have far-reaching implications for the European Commission’s future practice in antitrust proceedings.
In-house counsel Dr. Ingo Schaffernak (Head of Legal) and Dr. Norbert Boese (Antitrust) were involved on behalf of HeidelbergCement.
HeidelbergCement was advised by the following team of Gleiss Lutz antitrust specialists: Dr. Ulrich Denzel, Dr. Philipp Pichler (both Stuttgart) and Dr. Christian von Köckritz (counsel, Brussels).
Gleiss Lutz regularly advises HeidelbergCement in a wide range of legal fields. In recent years this has included representation in other cartel cases and cartel-related claims for damages as well as advice on corporate law issues and transactions..
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