19.°9. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 239/23 COMMISSION DECISION of 17 July 1996 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case No 1V/35.337 — Atlas) (Only the English, French and German texts are authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (96/546/EC) THE .COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, First Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty('), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Articles 2, 6, and 8 thereof, Having regard to the application for negative clearance and the notification for exemption submitted, pursuant to Articles 2 and 4 of Regulation No 17, on 16 December 1994, Having regard to the summary of the application and notification published pursuant to Article 19 (3) of Regulation No 17 and to Article 3 of Protocol 21 of the EEA Agreement (%), After consultation with the Advisory Committee for Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas: I. THE FACTS A. INTRODUCTION (1) The Atlas venture was notified to the Commission on 16 December 1994. This transaction brings about a joint venture owned as to 50 % by France Télécom (FT) and as to 50 % by Deutsche Telekom AG (DT). The notification of Atlas replaces the notification on 3 June 1993 (%) of a joint venture formed by FT and DT (at the time Deutsche Bundespost Telekom) under the name of Eunetcom to which this Decision extends. Atlas is also the instrument of DT and FT’s participation in a No C 337, 15. 12. 1995, p. 2. O] No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. ] 0J No C 175, 26. 6. 1993, p. 11. ( ( ( second transaction, notified under the name of Phoenix, with Sprint Corporation (Sprint)(*). Phoenix, since renamed as GlobalOne, is the object of a separate Decision pursuant to Article 85 (3) of the EC Treaty (). (2) Atlas is structured at two levels. A holding company established in Brussels, Atlas SA, incorporated as a société anonyme under the laws of Belgium, has three operating subsidiaries, namely Atlas Télécommunications SA  (Atlas - France) in France, Telekom Internationale Telekommunikationsdienste .GmbH (Atlas Germany) in Germany, and one for the rest of Europe. Atlas France and Atlas Germany will initially provide technical and sales support to FT and DT, being the French and German distributors of Atlas and GlobalOne products. After full and effective liberalization of the telecommunications infrastructure and services markets in France and Germany, scheduled to occur by 1 January 1998, DT’s subsidiary for the provision of X.25 packet-switched data communications, T-Data Gesellschaft  fiir  Datenkommunikation mbH (T-Data)(®), will be merged with Atlas Germany while FT’s subsidiary for the provision of X.25 packet-switched data communications, Transpac France, will be merged with Atlas France. B. THE PARTIES (3) Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) and France Télécom (FT) are the public telecommunications organizations (TOs) in Germany and France. Both 4y O] No C 184, 18. 7. 1995, p. 11. ) %) See p. 57 of this Official Journal. ¢) The parties have submitted that T-Data is the new name of DT’s former Datex-P division for the provision of X.25 packet-switched data communications services, incorporated after publication of the Commission notice pursuant to Article 19 (3) of Council Regulation No 17 and Article 3 of Protocol 21 of the European Economic Area Agreement in this case; OJ No C 337, 15. 12. 1995, p. 2 (hereinafter the ‘Article 19 (3) notice’).