Aus dem Urteil des Gerichts in AstraZeneca vs Kommission (T 321/05) von heute:
474 The Court notes, as a preliminary point, that the burden of proof of the existence of the circumstances that constitute an infringement of Article 82 EC is borne by the Commission … It is therefore incumbent on the Commission to adduce evidence capable of demonstrating the existence of the circumstances constituting an infringement.
475 In this respect, any doubt of the Court must benefit the undertaking to which the decision finding an infringement was addressed. The Court cannot therefore conclude that the Commission has established the infringement at issue to the requisite legal standard if it still entertains any doubts on that point, in particular in proceedings for annulment of a decision imposing a fine.
476 In the latter situation, it is necessary to take account of the principle of the presumption of innocence resulting in particular from Article 6(2) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, which is one of the fundamental rights which, according to the case-law of the Court of Justice, reaffirmed in Article 6(2) EU, are general principles of Community law. Given the nature of the infringements in question and the nature and degree of gravity of the ensuing penalties, the principle of the presumption of innocence applies in particular to the procedures relating to infringements of the competition rules applicable to undertakings that may result in the imposition of fines or periodic penalty payments …
477 Thus, the Commission must show precise and consistent evidence in order to establish the existence of the infringement. However, it is not necessary for the Commission to adduce such evidence in relation to every aspect of the infringement. It is sufficient if the body of evidence relied on by the institution, viewed as a whole, and whose various elements are able to reinforce each other, meets that requirement …
Daher:
852 Accordingly, in the absence of any indication in this respect in the contested decision and in view of the fact that it is not even established that the Danish authorities revoked the parallel import licences for Losec capsules, a presumption of a causal link between the deregistration of the Losec capsule marketing authorisation in Denmark and the cessation of the parallel imports of that product in that country is incompatible with the principle that doubt must operate to the advantage of the addressee of the decision finding the infringement …
855 The Court therefore considers that the Commission has failed to establish to the requisite legal standard that the deregistration in Denmark of the Losec capsule marketing authorisation was capable of excluding parallel imports of those products …
858 Although … parallel imports fell sharply in Norway, it cannot be presumed … that the deregistration of the Losec capsule marketing authorisation in those countries caused that fall. The fact that the Norwegian authority upheld the parallel import licences for Losec capsules also tends to show that the fall in parallel imports was not necessarily caused by the deregistration of the marketing authorisations.
859 Thus … the Commission was not entitled, in the present case, without evidence, to take the view that the deregistration of the Losec capsule marketing authorisation in Norway for reasons unrelated to public health was such as to lead to the withdrawal of the parallel import licences for that product in that country, or presume that the sharp fall in parallel imports of Losec capsules had been caused by the deregistration of the marketing authorisation pertaining to that product …
861 The Court therefore considers that the Commission has also failed to establish to the requisite legal standard that the deregistration in Norway of the Losec capsule marketing authorisation was capable of excluding parallel imports of Losec capsules.
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