Choice of the departments to be consulted

Choice of the departments to be consulted

Under Article 23(4) of the Rules of Procedure, the Legal Service must always be consulted on all drafts or proposals for legal instruments and on all documents which may have legal implications. Concretely, for DG COMP, it means that the Legal Service must be consulted on every act prepared by DG COMP to be adopted by the College or under the empowerment or sub-delegation procedures (see section 2.1 above).

More about Choice of the departments to be consulted

Under Article 23(5) of the Rules of Procedure, the Sec. Gen. must be consulted in specific circumstances. The Sec Gen must be consulted on all initiatives that (a) are of political importance; or (b) are part of the Commission's annual work programme; or (c) concern institutional issues; or (d) are subject to impact assessment or public consultations. In concrete terms, with regard to DG COMP's activities, the Sec Gen will only be consulted in exceptional situations, for instance in relation to the preparation of legislative acts or policy statements (draft regulations, draft notices, etc).

More about the Subject

Under Article 23(2) of the Rules of Procedure other Directorates General with a legitimate interest in initiative shall also be formally consulted on the drafts of all decisions which will be adopted by the College either in oral or written procedure. In practice, with regard to DG COMP's activities, Directorates General with a legitimate interest are mostly DGs ENTR, ECFIN 1 , ENER, MOVE, INFSO, EAC, EMPL, MARKT, AGRI and SANCO. The list of DGs obviously depends on the subject matter of the act to be adopted.

Other Considerations

Under Article 23(6) of the Rules of Procedure, DG BUDG shall be consulted on documents which may have implications for the budget and finances. Concretely, this means that the operative part of a prohibition decision with fines should be sent to DG BUDG (see Module on Prohibition).

Resources

See Also

References

• Information about Choice of the departments to be consulted in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Notes

[Note 1] Pursuant to Article 23(5a) of the Rules of the Commission (amendment C(2011)9000): “The Directorate-General responsible for economic and financial affairs must be consulted (for DG COMP by analogy to be understood as “prior information” concerning DL and PH adoptions) on all initiatives relating to or having a potential impact on growth, competitiveness or economic stability in the European Union or in the euro area.”

Further Reading

• Information about Choice of the departments to be consulted in “An Introduction to EU Competition Law”, Moritz Lorenz (Cambridge University Press)