Brugg Kabel V Commission: Procedural Rights in the Power Cable Cartel Saga Before the Court of Justice of the EU*

Abstract

Judgment of 28 November 2019, Brugg Kabel AG v Commission, C-591/18P and Judgment of 28 November 2019 ABB v Commission, C-593/18P The Court of Justice of the EU confirms that there is no automatic right of access to other parties’ responses to the Statement of Objections. On 28 November 2019, the Court of Justice of the EU (‘CJEU’) delivered its rulings on separate appeals filed against the Judgments of the General Court (‘GC’), which dismissed the actions for annulment brought by certain power cable producers, including Brugg Kabel AG (‘Brugg’) and ABB Ltd (‘ABB’), against the European Commission 2014 decision in the power cables cartel. On 2 April 2014, the Commission imposed large fines on a number of cable producers for having taken part in a cartel. The cartel is said to have involved all types of underground cables with a voltage of 110 kV and above and all types of submarine cables with a voltage of 33 kV and above, including accessory products. The Commission also found that the cartel had operated at two different levels with EU producers having agreed with non-EU producers to refrain from competing in each other’s home territories while at the same time also agreeing how to allocate projects among themselves in the EEA. Brugg and ABB brought separate actions for annulment against the Commission decision. These actions were dismissed by the GC on 12 July 2018 (which on the same day also dismissed a separate action brought by LS Cable & System Ltd—see Case C-596/18P—LS Cable & System v Commission). The Commission decision was also challenged by other producers and appeals against the judgments of the GC in those actions remain pending before the CJEU at the time of writing.