EU: ECJ hears Groupement des Cartes Bancaires appeal

On September 11 2014, the ECJ handed down its verdict on the appeal by Groupement des Cartes Bancaires, against a General Court decision upholding a European Commission decision finding that GCB’s tariffs breached Article 101 of the TFEU. The ECJ referred the case back to the General Court, which met this Wednesday.

The ECJ found that the General Court was wrong to conclude that the pricing measures that GCB had adopted in relation to its payments card system had the object of restricting competition. The General Court had failed to refer fully to the settled case law, or to show that the co-ordination revealed during the proceedings had sufficiently harmed competition, a requirement of the Law.

Finally, the ECJ also found the General Court to have failed in its interpretation of the Restriction by Object concept, or to observe the standard of review required under law for this kind of complex case. As a result, the ECJ has decided to uphold the GCB’s appeal, with a new trial to be carried out, with results expected in the upcoming months.