Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 22 May 2008 - Degussa v
   Commission

   (Case C-266/06 P)

   Appeal - Competition - Cartel - Market in methionine - Fine -
   Regulation No 17 - Article 15(2) - Nulla poena sine lege - Distortion
   of the facts - Principle of proportionality - Principle of equal
   treatment

   1.                     Community law - General legal principles - Legal
   certainty - Nulla poena sine lege - Scope (see paras 38-40, 44-46)

   2.                     Competition - Fines - Amount - Determination -
   Discretion conferred on the Commission by Article 15(2) of Regulation
   No 17 (Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2); Commission Notice 98/C
   9/03) (see paras 50-62)

   3.                     Appeals - Grounds - Mistaken assessment of the
   facts - Inadmissibility - Review by the Court of Justice of the
   assessment of the evidence - Possible only where the clear sense of the
   evidence has been distorted (Art. 225(1) EC; Statute of the Court of
   Justice, Art. 58, first para.) (see paras 72-74, 86, 94)

   4.                     Appeals - Jurisdiction of the Court - Whether it
   may review, on grounds of fairness, the appraisal at first instance of
   the amount of a fine imposed on an undertaking - Not included - Whether
   it may review that appraisal on the ground that the principle of
   non-discrimination was infringed - Included (Art. 81(1), EC; Council
   Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2)) (see paras 95, 114)

   5.                     Appeals - Grounds - Inadequate or contradictory
   grounds - Admissibility - Reliance by the Court of First Instance on
   implied reasoning - Whether lawful - Conditions (Art. 225(1) EC;
   Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 36, 53, first para., and 58,
   first para.) (see paras 102-103)

   6.                     Competition - Fines - Amount - Determination -
   Criteria - Need to distinguish between the undertakings involved in the
   same infringement according to their total turnover - None (Council
   Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2); Commission Notice 98/C 9/03, para. 1A,
   fifth subpara.) (see paras 119-123)

   Re:

   Appeal against the judgment of the Court of First Instance (Third
   Chamber) of 5 April 2006 in Case T-279/02 Degussa AG v Commission , in
   which that Court dismissed in part the action seeking annulment of
   Commission Decision 2003/674/EC of 2 July 2002 relating to a proceeding
   pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA
   Agreement (OJ 2003 L 255, p. 1) - Cartel concerning the market in
   methionine - Requirements of the principle of nulla poena sine lege in
   relation to the system of fines laid down by Article 15(2) of
   Regulation No 17.

   Operative part

   The Court:

   1.

   Dismisses the appeal;

   2.

   Orders Evonik Degussa GmbH to bear the costs;

   3.

   Orders the Council of the European Union to pay its own costs.