(1) (b) of Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 provides that the Commission may by decision impose on undertakings or associations of undertakings fines of from ECU 100 to ECU 5 000 where, intentionally or negligently they supply incorrect information in response to a request made pursuant to Article 16 (3).
As the preceding paragraphs make clear, Secrétama intentionally and repeatedly supplied incorrect information liable to lead the Commission to draw incorrect conclusions on the case in question.
The Commission considers that the infringement is particularly serious; the fact that it was repeated rules out the possibility of negligence. Lastly, Secrétama could not have been unaware that in acting as it did it was infringing the competition rules since the Commission made sure that the relevant provisions of Article 19 of Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 were contained in its request for information.
Under the circumstances, it is justified to impose a heavy fine on Secrétama within the limit set by Article 19 of Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1
Secrétama has infringed Article 16 (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 by supplying incorrect information in response to a request made pursuant to Article 16 (3) of that Regulation. Article 2
A fine of ECU 5 000 is hereby imposed on Secrétama. The fine shall be paid, in ecus, within three months of the date of notification of this Decision to the account of the Commission of the European Communities, No 310-0933000-43, Banque Bruxelles-Lambert, Agence Européenne, 5 Rond-Point Robert Schuman, B-1040 Brussels.
On expiry of that period interest shall automatically be payable at the rate charged by the European Monetary Cooperation Fund on its ecu operations on the first working day of the month in which this Decision was adopted, plus 3,5 percentage points, i.e. 14 %. Article 3
This Decision is addressed to Secrétama, 167 rue de Courcelles, F-75017 Paris.
This Decision shall be enforceable pursuant to Article 192 of the EEC Treaty.
Done at Brussels, 19 December 1990.
For the Commission
Leon BRITTAN
Vice-President (1) OJ No L 378, 31. 12. 1986, p. 4.