C 307 Official Journal
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ISSN 1725-2423 Official Journal C 307 of the European Union Volume 53 English edition Information and Notices 12 November 2010 Notice No Contents Page IV Notices NOTICES FROM EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS, BODIES, OFFICES AND AGENCIES European Commission 2010/C 307/01 Euro exchange rates . 1 2010/C 307/02 Opinion of the Advisory Committee on restrictive agreements and dominant position given at its meeting of 15 October 2009 regarding a draft decision relating to Case COMP/38.589 — Heat Stabilisers (1) — Rapporteur: Malta . 2 2010/C 307/03 Opinion of the Advisory Committee on restrictive agreements and dominant position given at its meeting of 6 November 2009 regarding a draft decision relating to Case COMP/38.589 — Heat Stabilisers (2) — Rapporteur: Malta . 3 2010/C 307/04 Final report of the Hearing Officer — Case COMP/38.589 — Heat Stabilisers . 4 2010/C 307/05 Summary of Commission Decision of 11 November 2009 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/38.589 — Heat Stabilisers) (notified under document C(2009) 8682) ( 1 ) . 9 Court of Auditors 2010/C 307/06 Special Report No 6/2010 ‘Has the reform of the sugar market achieved its main objectives?’ . 13 Price: 1 EN EUR 3 ( ) Text with EEA relevance (Continued overleaf) Notice No Contents (continued) Page NOTICES FROM MEMBER STATES 2010/C 307/07 Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regu lation (EC) No 1857/2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regu lation (EC) No 70/2001 . 14 2010/C 307/08 Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regu lation (EC) No 1857/2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regu lation (EC) No 70/2001 . 17 V Announcements PROCEDURES RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPETITION POLICY European Commission 2010/C 307/09 Prior notification of a concentration (Case COMP/M.5986 — Schindler/Droege/ALSO/Actebis) ( 1 ) . 20 OTHER ACTS European Commission 2010/C 307/10 Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs . 21 2010/C 307/11 Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs . 24 EN ( 1 ) Text with EEA relevance 12.11.2010 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 307/1 IV (Notices) NOTICES FROM EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS, BODIES, OFFICES AND AGENCIES EUROPEAN COMMISSION Euro exchange rates ( 1) 11 November 2010 (2010/C 307/01) 1 euro = Currency Exchange rate Currency Exchange rate USD US dollar 1,3700 AUD Australian dollar 1,3682 JPY Japanese yen 112,78 CAD Canadian dollar 1,3742 DKK Danish krone 7,4538 HKD Hong Kong dollar 10,6198 GBP Pound sterling 0,84910 NZD New Zealand dollar 1,7495 SEK Swedish krona 9,3102 SGD Singapore dollar 1,7646 CHF Swiss franc 1,3282 KRW South Korean won 1 520,57 ISK Iceland króna ZAR South African rand 9,4674 NOK Norwegian krone 8,0910 CNY Chinese yuan renminbi 9,0772 BGN Bulgarian lev 1,9558 HRK Croatian kuna 7,3727 CZK Czech koruna 24,634 IDR Indonesian rupiah 12 206,66 EEK Estonian kroon 15,6466 MYR Malaysian ringgit 4,2442 HUF Hungarian forint 276,54 PHP Philippine peso 60,089 LTL Lithuanian litas 3,4528 RUB Russian rouble 41,9220 LVL Latvian lats 0,7093 THB Thai baht 40,710 PLN Polish zloty 3,9329 BRL Brazilian real 2,3491 RON Romanian leu 4,2865 MXN Mexican peso 16,7769 TRY Turkish lira 1,9540 INR Indian rupee 60,9310 ( 1 ) Source: reference exchange rate published by the ECB. C 307/2 EN Official Journal of the European Union 12.11.2010 Opinion of the Advisory Committee on restrictive agreements and dominant position given at its meeting of 15 October 2009 regarding a draft decision relating to Case COMP/38.589 — Heat Stabilisers (1) Rapporteur: Malta (2010/C 307/02) 1. The Advisory Committee agrees with the European Commission assessment of the facts as an agreement and/or concerted practice within the meaning of Article 81 of the Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement. 2. The Advisory Committee agrees that the complex of agreements and/or concerted practices constitutes two single and continuous infringements for tin stabilisers and ESBO/esters for the time frame in which they existed. 3. The Advisory Committee agrees with the European Commission that the agreements and/or concerted practices have as object a restriction of competition. 4. The Advisory Committee agrees with the European Commission assessment on the duration of the infringements for each addressee. 5. The Advisory Committee agrees with the European Commission draft decision as regards the conclusion that the agreements and concerted practices between the addressees were capable of having an appreciable effect upon trade between EU Member States and between contracting parties of the EEA. 6. The Advisory Committee agrees with the European Commission draft decision as regards the addressees of the decision, specifically with reference to imputation of liability to parent companies of the groups concerned. 7. The Advisory Committee recommends the publication of its opinion in the Official Journal of the European Union. 12.11.2010 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 307/3 Opinion of the Advisory Committee on restrictive agreements and dominant position given at its meeting of 6 November 2009 regarding a draft decision relating to Case COMP/38.589 — Heat Stabilisers (2) Rapporteur: Malta (2010/C 307/03) 1. The Advisory Committee agrees with the European Commission that a fine should be imposed on the addressees of the draft decision with regard to the infringements. 2. The Advisory Committee agrees with the European Commission's reasoning on the basic amount of the fines. 3. The Advisory Committee agrees with the European Commission on the increase of the basic amount due to aggravating circumstances. 4. The Advisory Committee agrees with the European Commission on the application of the 2002 Leniency Notice for immunity from fines and reduction of fines in cartel cases. 5. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission on the final amounts of the fines. 6. The Advisory Committee recommends the publication of its opinion in the Official Journal of the European Union. C 307/4 EN Official Journal of the European Union 12.11.2010 Final report of the Hearing Officer ( 1) Case COMP/38.589 — Heat Stabilisers (2010/C 307/04) This competition case concerns a cartel agreement between producers of two categories of heat stabilisers used in the production of PVC products: tin stabilisers and ESBO/esters. The draft decision gives rise to the following observations: Statement of Objections The Commission's investigation was initiated on the basis of an immunity application in November 2002. The Commission carried out on-site inspections. In addition to the immunity applicant, there were four leniency applicants in this case. The Commission notified a Statement of Objections (‘SO’) on 18 March 2009 to 15 undertakings or groups of undertakings (‘the Parties’) ( 2). In the SO, the Commission came to the preliminary conclusion that the Parties participated in a single and continuous infringement of Article 81(1) EC and Article 53(1) EEA relating to tin stabilisers for 13 years between 1987 and 2000 and ESBO/esters for 9 years between 1991 and 2000. Time period to respond to the SO The Parties were originally granted a deadline to reply to the SO until 14 May 2009. 13 Parties submitted reasoned requests for an extension. I prolonged the time limit for all of these. Three parties came back with justified reasons for a further extension which I granted. All Parties replied in due time except for one. Access to file The Parties were granted access to the file via a CD-ROM. The Parties also received access to oral and written leniency statements at the Commission's premises. Baerlocher requested further access to the file. In my reply, I partially granted their request and allowed additional access to certain oral statements. This was to allow Baerlocher to verify potential discrepancies between various versions of documents. Another part of their request was rejected on the ground that the documents in question were subject to legal professional privilege (‘LPP’) claims then under adjudication by the Court of Justice. Several parties requested access to other parties’ replies at various stages of the procedure. I rejected these request by referring to the Notice on Access to File and the applicable case law ( 3). Oral Hearing The Oral Hearing was held in June 2009. All Parties attended except for one. ( 1 ) Pursuant to Articles 15 and 16 of Commission Decision 2001/462/EC, ECSC of 23 May 2001 on the terms of reference of Hearing Officers in certain competition proceedings (OJ L 162, 19.6.2001, p. 21). ( 2 ) (i) Akzo Nobel Chemicals GmbH, Akzo Nobel Chemicals BV, Akzo Nobel Chemicals International BV and their parent company, Akzo Nobel N.V. (‘Akzo’); (ii) Ackros Chemicals Ltd (‘Ackros’); (iii) Elementis plc, Elementis Holdings Ltd, Elementis UK Ltd, Elementis Services Ltd (‘Elementis’); (iv) Elf Aquitaine SA (‘Elf’); (v) CECA SA and its parent company Arkema France SA (‘Arkema’); (vi) Baerlocher GmbH, Baerlocher Italia SpA, Baerlocher UK Ltd and their parent company MRF Michael Rosenthal GmbH (‘Baerlocher’); (vii) GEA Group AG (‘GEA’); (viii) Chemson GmbH and Chemson Polymer-Additive AG (‘Chemson’); (ix) Aachener Chemische Werke Gesellschaft für glastechnische Produkte und Verfahren mbH (‘ACW’); (x) Addichem SA (‘Addichem’); (xi) Chemtura Vinyl Additives GmbH and its parent company Chemtura Corporation (‘Chemtura’); (xii) Ciba Lampertheim GmbH and its parent company Ciba Holding AG (‘Ciba’); (xiii) Faci SpA (‘Faci’); (xiv) Reagens SpA (‘Reagens’); and (xv) AC Treuhand AG (‘AC Treuhand’).