In 2007, the Commission found that the undertakings Guardian, Asahi Glass, Pilkington and Saint-Gobain had unlawfully fixed prices in the flat-glass sector in the European Economic Area. The Commission imposed a fine of €148 million on Guardian. In 2012, the General Court upheld that decision. Guardian brought an appeal before the Court of Justice seeking to have the judgment of the General Court set aside and the fine reduced. It argued that the General Court failed to have regard to the principle of equal treatment in refusing to accept that, when the fine was calculated, sales between entities belonging to the same undertaking (internal sales) must be taken into account on the same basis as sales to independent third parties (external sales).