LA NUEVA JURISPRUDENCIA DEL TRIBUNAL SUPREMO EN RELACIÓN CON EL CÁLCULO DE LAS SANCIONES EN MATERIA DE DEFENSA DE LA COMPETENCIA.

On 29 January 2015, the Spanish Supreme Court issued a judgment that put an end to a dispute between the Spanish National Markets Competition Commission (CNMC) and the Spanish National High Court (Audiencia Nacional) on the applicable criteria to calculate fines for breaches of competition law. The debate focused on the interpretation of the maximum percentages established in article 63 of Law 15/2007 of 3 July on Competition. On the basis of the proportionality principle, the Supreme Court held that: (i) the 10% limit on the annual turnover of a sanctioned company as stipulated in article 63.1 of Law 15/2007 (or 5% or 1% depending on the seriousness of the infringement) is the maximum sanction; and (ii) this percentage must be calculated over a company's total annual turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]