Article 41 - Right to good administration
Key facts of the case:
Appeal – Competition – Article 102 TFEU – Abuse of dominant position – Slovak market for broadband internet access services – Regulatory obligation on the part of operators with significant market power to grant access to the local loop – Conditions laid down by the incumbent operator for unbundled access by other operators to the local loop – Indispensability of the access – Margin squeeze – Costs – Competitor at least as efficient as the dominant undertaking – Rights of the defence.
Outcome of the case:
On those grounds, the Court (Third Chamber) hereby:
80) As regards the complaint that the General Court erred in law by failing to acknowledge an infringement of the appellant’s rights of defence, it should be recalled that the rights of the defence are fundamental rights forming an integral part of the general principles of law whose observance the Court ensures (judgment of 25 October 2011, Solvay v Commission, C‑109/10 P, EU:C:2011:686, paragraph 52 and the case-law cited). That general principle of EU law is enshrined in Article 41(2)(a) and (b) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and applies where the authorities are minded to adopt a measure which will adversely affect an individual (see, to that effect, judgment of 16 January 2019, Commission v United Parcel Service, C‑265/17 P, EU:C:2019:23, paragraph 28 and the case-law cited).
