77/595/ECSC: Commission Decision of 27 July 1977 concerning checks to be made pursuant to the second sentence of the first paragraph of Article 47 of the ECSC Treaty at Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH, Völklingen/Saar (Only the German text is authentic)

• Articles: 5

Article 1

Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH, Völklingen, is hereby required to permit checks to be made in its business premises in Völklingen. It shall, in particular, allow Commission officials empowered to carry out the checks to enter its premises during normal office hours, produce for examination the books and papers demanded by those officials for the period beginning with the last quarter of 1970, particularly those which were in the upper storey of Richardstraße 12 in Völklingen on 25 August 1976, including: - the "forging" agreement,

- the structural-steel agreement,

- the Luxembourg agreement (crude-steel quotas and procedures for fixing them),

- statistics of the rolled-steel joint-selling agencies, rationalization groups and the German-Luxembourg-Belgian-Dutch Business Association,

- European market protection agreement,

- books and papers relating to the agreement between German producers of rolled-steel products made within the Rolled Steel Association, concerning prices to be charged in Germany and other Community countries,

allow the officials to take copies or photocopies, and give immediate oral and written explanations of matters related to the subject of the checks. Furthermore, the Commission officials shall be allowed entry to the company's archives.

Article 2

The checks shall be carried out at the company's business premises at Völklingen and shall begin on 18 August 1977.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH, Völklingen/Saar. It shall be notified by being handed over personally to a representative of that undertaking by the Commission's officials immediately before the checks are to begin.

Article 4

Proceedings may be instituted against this Decision under Article 33 of the ECSC Treaty. As stated in the first paragraph of Article 39 of the Treaty, such proceedings shall not have suspensory effect.

Done at Brussels, 27 July 1977.

For the Commission

Raymond VOUEL

Member of the Commission

Annex to the Commission Decision of 27 July 1977

Article 47

The High Authority may obtain the information it requires to carry out its tasks. It may have any necessary checks made.

The High Authority must not disclose information of the kind covered by the obligation of professional secrecy, in particular information about undertakings, their business relations or their cost components. Subject to this reservation, it shall publish such data as could be useful to Governments or to any other parties concerned.

The High Authority may impose fines or periodic penalty payments on undertakings which evade their obligations under decisions taken in pursuance of this Article or which knowingly furnish false information. The maximum amount of such fines shall be 1 per cent of the annual turnover, and the maximum amount of such penalty payments shall be 5 per cent of the average daily turnover for each day's delay.

Any breach of professional secrecy by the High Authority which has caused damage to an undertaking may be the subject of an action for compensation before the Court, as provided in Article 40.