Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber, Extended Composition) of 16 June 2011 - Solvay Solexis v Commission (Case T-195/06) Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Hydrogen peroxide and sodium perborate - Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC - Duration of infringement - Concept of `agreement' and `concerted practice' - Access to the file - Fines - Equal treatment - Leniency Notice - Duty to state reasons 1. Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Agreements between undertakings - Concept - Joint intention as to the conduct to be adopted on the market - Included - Pursuance of negotiations on certain aspects of the restriction - No effect (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 55-56, 98, 100) 2. Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Concerted practice - Concept - Exchange of information in the context of a cartel or with a view to its preparation - Taking into account of information exachanged - Presumption - Conditions (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 57-59, 102-103, 116) 3. Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Complex infringement with elements of an agreement and elements of a concerted practice - Single description as an `agreement and/or concerted practice' - Lawfulness (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 60-62, 81) 4. Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Adverse effect on competition - Criteria for assessment - Anti-competitive purpose - Sufficient (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 113, 118, 157) 5. Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Prohibition - Agreements which continue to produce their effects after they have formally ceased to be in force - Application of Article 81 EC (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 124-125) 6. Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Proof - Evidence adduced by the Commission - Participation in meetings having an anti-competitive object - Evidentiary duties of undertakings denying the unlawfulness of some of those meetings (Art. 81(1) EC) (see para. 131) 7. Competition - Administrative procedure - Observance of the rights of the defence - Access to the file - Scope - Non-communication of a document - Consequences - Need to draw a distinction, at the level of the burden of proof borne by the undertaking concerned, between inculpatory and exculpatory documents (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 27(2)) (see paras 146-149) 8. Competition - Administrative procedure - Commission decision - Duty to state reasons - Scope - Obligation on the Commission to take a position on documents not containing exculpatory evidence - None (Arts 81 EC and 253 EC) (see para. 159) 9. Competition - Administrative procedure - Observance of the rights of the defence - Communication of replies to a statement of objections - Conditions - Limits (Art. 81 EC) (see paras 167-171, 173, 176, 178-181) 10. Competition - Fines - Amount - Determination - Criteria - Gravity of the infringement - Single and continuous infringement - Taking into account of variations in intensity of the offending conduct (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(3)) (see paras 191, 210) 11. Competition - Fines - Amount - Determination - Criteria - Gravity of the infringement - Obligation to take account of the actual impact on the market - Scope (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2); Commission Notice 98/C 9/03, Section 1A) (see paras 195-197) 12. Competition - Fines - Amount - Determination - Division of the undertakings in question into categories with a specific starting point - Lawfulness - Conditions - Judicial review (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2)) (see paras 220-221) 13. Competition - Fines - Amount - Determination - Criteria - Gravity of the infringement - Mitigating circumstances - Passive or `follow-my-leader' role of the undertaking - Criteria for assessment (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notice 98/C 9/03, Section 3, first indent) (see paras 241-243, 252, 268) 14. Competition - Fines - Amount - Determination - Criteria - Mitigating circumstances - Conduct deviating from that agreed within the cartel - Assessment (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notice 98/C 9/03, Section 3) (see paras 269, 271-272) 15. Competition - Fines - Amount - Determination - Criteria - Taking into account of cooperation of the incriminated undertaking with the Commission outside the framework laid down by the leniency notice - Conditions - Limits (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23; Commission Notices 98/C 9/03, Section 3, and 2002/C 45/03, Section 23(b), third para.) (see paras 283, 285) 16. Competition - Fines - Decision imposing fines - Duty to state reasons - Scope - Indication of the factors which led the Commission to assess the gravity and the duration of the infringement (Art. 253 EC; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(3)) (see paras 297, 299) 17. Competition - Fines - Amount - Determination - Deterrent effect - Criteria for assessing the deterrent effect (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2); Commission Notice 98/C 9/03) (see paras 305-306) 18. Competition - Community rules - Infringements - Attribution - Transfer of an area of business - Legal person responsible for the running of the undertaking at the time of the infringement (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 308, 310) Re: APPLICATION for partial annulment of Commission Decision C(2006) 1766 final of 3 May 2006 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/F/38.620 - Hydrogen peroxide and perborate) and for a reduction of the fine imposed on the applicant. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Solvay Solexis SpA to pay the costs.