In final arguments against Galp's move to overturn the fine, prosecutor Anabela Matos Furtado noted that the fine corresponds to 0.11% of the company's 2014 annual turnover, which was around €8.5 billion. That compares with the maximum penalty permitted in the circumstances, which is 10% of a company's turnover.


Indeed, the fine should really be increased, she argued.


At issue in the case is Galp's alleged prohibition on distributors of its bottled gas selling in areas outside the geographical area assigned to them. Galp denies that any such bar existed.


In his summing up, Ricardo Junqueiro, one of Galp's lawyers, said it was a shame that the authority's decision had been based on an "interpretation out of context and based on suppositions" of what was contained in a clause in a contract, and had "no legal basis" in view of the way the market actually functions.


The fine would be, he said, the highest ever paid in Portugal for an infraction of competition rules, although in the past other companies have been condemned for forming a cartel or concerting prices.


Junqueiro also argued that the fine represents 7% of the relevant turnover of the company, that is in the segment in question.
For the AdC, Ana Cruz Nogueira called on the court to maintain the fine.


The AdC alleges that in 199 contracts of 240 it analysed for mainland Portugal, as well as in nine in the Azores and three in Madeira, distributors' marketing strategy is restricted, with the result that there are "prevented from exploiting opportunities of some differentiation in prices between regions."


Although some of the contracts date back decades, the AdC decided to penalise the company only for continuing infraction starting in 2000, when "the grave nature of the infraction became unequivocal".