D’une part, il souligne que suivre une telle argumentation reviendrait à conditionner l’analyse des effets du comportement litigieux sur la concurrence potentielle à l’examen du degré de concurrence existant actuellement sur le marché en cause, ce qui est contraire à la jurisprudence selon laquelle l’examen des conditions de concurrence sur un marché donné repose non seulement sur la concurrence actuelle que se font les entreprises déjà présentes, mais aussi sur la concurrence potentielle.
First, the General Court states that to accept such an argument would amount to making the analysis of the effects of the conduct at issue on potential competition dependent on the examination of the level of competition currently existing in the market in question, which is incompatible with case-law which requires that the examination of conditions of competition in a given market be based not only on the existing competition between undertakings already present in the market in question, but also on potential competition.