The General Court Emphasizes The Obligation Of Cooperation Within A Leniency Programme

In a recent judgment, the General Court stresses the importance to fully cooperate with the Commission when entering in a leniency programme1 . The leniency applicant is required to collaborate immediately. Its cooperation must be full, absolute and without any reservations.

In the present case, Deltafina, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US Company Universal Corp, had been the first undertaking to reveal to the Commission the existence of the Italian raw tobacco cartel in the context of the 2002 Leniency Notice. Accordingly, at the beginning of the administrative procedure, the Commission had granted the undertaking conditional immunity. However, in its final decision, the Commission did not grant full immunity. It imposed a fine on Deltafina since the undertaking endangered the administrative procedure when disclosing its immunity application to its competitors whereas the Commission had not yet carried out inspections.

According to the General Court, the concept of cooperation is a very broad obligation, its limits are not clearly defined and its specific scope can only be understood with regard to a specific case and the applicable leniency program.

In order for a leniency applicant to receive a full immunity, its cooperation with the Commission must be "full, continuous and expeditious". "Full cooperation" means that the collaboration of the immunity applicant must be full, absolute and without any reservations. "A continuous and expeditious cooperation" implies that the collaboration must last all over the administrative procedure and must be in principal immediate.

According to settled case law, a reduction under the Leniency Notice can be justified only where the information provided and, more generally, the conduct of the undertaking concerned might be...