Measures sub-delegated by the Competition Commissioner to the Director General

Measures sub-delegated by the Competition Commissioner to the Director General

By decision of 27 May 2004 (PH/2004/769) 1 the Competition Commissioner has sub-delegated to the Director General the following powers which are granted to him in the empowerment decision of 28 April 2004: – decision imposing (provisional) periodic penalty payments on undertakings or associations of undertakings in order to compel them to supply complete and correct information requested by decision taken pursuant to Articles 17 or 18(3) of Regulation 1/2003 (Article 24(1)(d) of Regulation 1/2003; comment: The power to impose periodic penalty payments for breaches of substantive rules (Article 24(1)(a)(b)(c)) and under Article 24(1)(e) are not sub-delegated and remain therefore with the Competition Commissioner under the empowerment procedure; – closure of proceedings (Article 2(1) of Regulation 773/2004 and Article 11(6) of Regulation 1/2003); – announcement by the Commission to the complainant that it intends to reject the complaint (Article 7(2) of Regulation 1/2003 and Article 7(1) of Regulation 773/2004); – refusal by the Commission to send confidential information to national courts (Article 15(1) of Regulation 1/2003); – determination of the content of an opinion to be sent to a national court (Article 15(1) of Regulation 1/2003); – decision requesting information from undertakings and associations of undertakings (Article 18(3) of Regulation 1/2003); – decision ordering inspections of undertakings and associations of undertakings (Article 20(4) of Regulation 1/2003); – decision to order inspections of premises other than business premises (Article 21 of Regulation 1/2003) limited to those cases in which the decision must be taken urgently and the Competition Commissioner cannot be reached in time; comment: In normal circumstances the decision to inspect premises other than business premises must thus be taken by the Commissioner under the empowerment procedure ; – written commitment by the Commission not to use information which a NCA obtained under a national leniency programme.

More about Measures sub-delegated by the Competition Commissioner to the Director General

Those sub-delegations are also applicable where the Commission, on the basis of Regulations 1/2003 and 773/2004, applies Articles 53 and 54 of the EEA agreement.

More about the Subject

Before taking a decision the Director General must always determine whether, on grounds of political sensitivity or because of its importance the matter must be brought before the Competition Commissioner.

Other Considerations

Where the Director-General for Competition is prevented from exercising the sub-delegated powers for example during holidays, Article 27 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission applies according to strict rules of seniority.

Resources

See Also

References

• Information about Measures sub-delegated by the Competition Commissioner to the Director General in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Notes

[Note 1] The sub-delegation decision was signed on 27 May 2004 and entered into force on 3 June 2004.

Further Reading

• Information about Measures sub-delegated by the Competition Commissioner to the Director General in “An Introduction to EU Competition Law”, Moritz Lorenz (Cambridge University Press)