Orders nº T-111/08 of Court of First Instance of the European Communities, December 09, 2008

• Resolution Date: December 09, 2008
• Issuing Organization: Court of First Instance of the European Communities
• Decision Number: T-111/08

(Intervention – Interest in the result of the case – Confidentiality)

In Case T‑111/08,

MasterCard Inc.,

MasterCard International Inc.,

and

MasterCard Europe SPRL,

applicants,

v

Commission of the European Communities,

defendant,

supported by

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,

British Retail Consortium,

and

Eurocommerce a.i.s.b.l

interveners,

APPLICATION for annulment, primarily, of Commission Decision C(2007) 6474 final of 19 December 2007 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Cases COMP/34.579 – MasterCard, COMP/36.518 – EuroCommerce, COMP/38.580 – Commercial Cards) in its entirety and, in the alternative, of Articles 3, 4, 5 and 7 of that decision,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE FIFTH CHAMBER OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

makes the following

Order

Facts and procedure

1 On 1 March 2008, the applicants, MasterCard Inc., MasterCard International Inc. and MasterCard Europe SPRL (together ‘MasterCard’), brought an action for annulment under Article 230 EC of Commission Decision C(2007) 6474 final of 19 December 2007 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Cases COMP/34.579 – MasterCard, COMP/36.518 – EuroCommerce, COMP/38.580 – Commercial Cards) (‘the contested decision’).

2 Under Article 24(6) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, the summary of the application initiating proceedings in Case T‑111/08 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union of 9 May 2008 (OJ 2008 C 116, p. 26).

3 By document lodged at the Registry of the Court of First Instance on 20 June 2008, Banco Santander SA sought leave to intervene in support of the form of order sought by Mastercard.

4 By document lodged at the Court Registry on 27 June 2008, HSBC Bank plc sought leave to intervene in support of the form of order sought by MasterCard.

5 By documents lodged at the Court Registry on 30 June 2008, Bank of Scotland plc, Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds TSB Bank plc and MBNA Europe Bank Ltd sought leave to intervene in support of the form of order sought by MasterCard.

6 The six abovementioned applications were, in accordance with Article 116(1) of the Rules of Procedure, served on the applicants and on the Commission.

7 By documents lodged at the Court Registry on 30 July, 1 August and 3 September 2008, the Commission raised objections to those applications. MasterCard did not submit any observations.

8 On 4 August 2008, MasterCard requested confidential treatment for certain matters contained in the application. On 6 August 2008, the Commission requested confidential treatment for certain matters contained in the application, then withdrew that request on 16 September 2008.

Law

The applications for leave to intervene

9 Under the second paragraph of Article 40 of the Statute of the Court of Justice which applies, by virtue of the first paragraph of Article 53 of that Statute, to proceedings before the Court of...