Dow Chemical Co v European Commission C-179/12 P, [2013] All ER (D) 207 (Oct)
According to settled case-law, the behaviour of a subsidiary could be imputed to the parent company, in particular where, despite having separate legal personality, that subsidiary did not decide independently upon its own conduct on the market, but carried out, in all material respects, the instructions given to it by the parent company, regard being had in particular to the economic, organisational and legal links between those two legal entities. In such a situation, because the parent company and its subsidiary formed a single economic unit and therefore formed a single undertaking for the purposes of Art 81 EC, the Commission might address a decision imposing fines to the parent company, without having to establish the personal involvement of the latter in the infringement. Further, the court had stipulated that account should be taken of all the relevant factors relating to the economic, organisational and legal links which tie the subsidiary to the parent company, which might vary from case to case and could not therefore be set out in an exhaustive list.
