L 196/40 Official Journal of the European Union 28.7.2007 II (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory) DECISIONS COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 13 September 2006 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (Case No COMP/F/38.456 — Bitumen (NL)) (notified under document number C(2006) 4090) (only the Dutch, English, French and German versions are authentic) (2007/534[EC) 1. SUMMARY OF THE INFRINGEMENT The addressees of the Decision participated in a single and continuous infringement of Article 81 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, involving the fixing of prices concerning road pavement bitumen in the Netherlands. 1.1. The road pavement bitumen sector Bitumen is a by-product in the production of fuel. Normally, it is produced during the distillation of specific heavy crude oils. Different crude oils and refinery configurations produce different bitumen types, which can be further modified by the addition of polymers in order to enhance performance. Bitumen is mainly used in the production of asphalt, where it serves as an adhesive binding the other materials together. The remainder of bitumen production goes into various industrial applications. The product that is the subject of this Decision is all bitumen used for road construction and similar appli- cations. It is also referred to as penetration bitumen, paving-grade bitumen or pen-grade bitumen. It will be referred to as road pavement bitumen. The investigation showed that the cartel covered the territory of the Netherlands. The size estimated is at around EUR 62 million in 2001, the last full year of the infringement. A peculiar feature of the arrangements is that the collusion occurred not only among sellers, as is usually the case, but among sellers and buyers (6) together. Eight out of nine suppliers of road pavement bitumen and the six (now five) largest road construction companies, purchasers of the product, participated in the cartel. The addressees referred to below participated in a single and continuous infringement of Article 81 of the EC Treaty, covering the territory of the Netherlands, the main features of which were that suppliers and purchasers jointly agreed on prices and rebates for the product concerned. 1.2. Addressees and duration of the infringement The undertakings, with their legal entities, which have participated in the infringement (some of them are held liable as parent companies) are the following, for the periods indicated. Please note that for certain under- takings more than one legal entity is the addressee of the Decision: Suppliers: (a) BP: BP plc. from 1 April 1994 to 15 April 2002, BP Nederland BV from 1 April 1994 to 1 January 2000 and BP Refining & Petrochemicals GmbH from 31 December 1999 to 15 April 2002; (b) Esha: Esha Holding BV, Smid & Hollander BV and Esha Port Services Amsterdam BV from 1 April 1994 to 15 April 2002;