Imperial Chemical Industries plc (ICI) infringed Article 86 of the EEC Treaty (now Article 82 of the EC Treaty) from about 1983 until at least the end of 1989 by a course of conduct aimed at excluding or severely limiting competition and consisting of:
(a) granting substantial rebates and other financial inducements referable to marginal tonnage in order to ensure that customers buy all or most of their requirements from ICI;
(b) securing the agreement of customers to buy the whole or substantially the whole of their requirements from ICI and/or to restrict their purchases of competitive material to a specified tonnage;
(c) in one case at least making the granting of rebates and other financial benefits dependent upon the customers agreeing to buy the whole of its requirements from ICI.
A fine of EUR 10 million is imposed on ICI in respect of the infringement specified in Article 1.
The fine imposed shall be paid within three months of the date of notification of this Decision to the following bank account:
Account No 642-0029000-95
European Commission
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)
SWIFT Code: BBVABEBB - IBAN Code: BE76 6420 0290 0095
Avenue des Arts/Kunstlaan, 43
B-1040 Brussels.
After expiry of that period, interest shall automatically be payable at the interest rate applied by the European Central Bank to its main refinancing operations on the first working day of the month in which this Decision is adopted plus 3,50 percentage points, namely 8,32 %.
This Decision is addressed to Imperial Chemical Industries plc, 9 Millbank, London SW1P 3JF, United Kingdom.
This Decision shall be enforceable pursuant to Article 256 of the Treaty.
Done at Brussels, 13 December 2000.
For the Commission
Mario Monti
Member of the Commission
(1) OJ 13, 21.2.1962, p. 204/62.
(2) OJ L 148, 15.6.1999, p. 5.
(3) OJ 127, 20.8.1963, p. 2268/63.
(4) OJ L 206, 2.8.1984, p. 15.
(5) OJ L 311, 29.11.1984, p. 26.
(6) OJ L 283, 16.10.1990, p. 38.
(7) OJ L 152, 15.6.1991, p. 54.
(8) The major customers all used ICI as their primary source with the United States or Polish producers as a possible second supplier only.
(9) OJ L 206, 2.8.1984, p. 15.
(10) OJ L 311, 29.11.1984, p. 26.
(11) OJ L 283, 16.10.1990, p. 38.
(12) [1979] ECR 461.
(13) [1978] ECR 207.
(14) [1979] ECR 1869.
(15) [1975] ECR 1663.
(16) [1983] ECR 3465.
(17) OJ L 10, 13.1.1989, p. 50.
(18) The compatibility or otherwise of ICI's "support packages" (import substitution, export assistance) with Article 81 or Article 82 are not the subject of the present proceedings. For the purposes of the present case the Commission confines itself to the linkage between the package and the customer's total requirement.
(19) [1992] ECR II-315.
(20) [1994] ECR I-2555.
(21) [1995] ECR II-1901.
(22) [2000] I-2341
(23) [1999] ECR II-931.
(24) OJ L 319, 29.11.1974, p. 1.
