Rejection of Complaints Procedure First step

Rejection of Complaints Procedure First step: Article 7(1) letter

The Article 7 letter sets out the Commission's provisional position on the complaint, subject to the observations that the complainant may submit in reply to the letter. 1 The drafting should be based on the template(s), which needs to be adapted to the circumstances of the case.

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The Article 7 letter is a formal Commission act adopted by the Director General, by subdelegation. 2 The Legal Service must be consulted and give its approval before the Article 7 letter is adopted by the Director General. It makes explicit reference to Article 7 of Regulation 773/2004, indicates a time limit for written observations (at least four weeks 3 ) and refers to the legal consequences if no reply is received within the deadline 4 .

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If the complainant does not react to the Article 7 letter within the time limit, the complaint is deemed to have been withdrawn (Article 7(3) of Regulation 773/2004) and the case is closed. The complainant should be informed accordingly of the administrative closure of the case.

Other Considerations

If the complainant requests an extension of the time limit to respond, such extension can be granted via a letter signed by the Head of Unit. An extension should be granted if appropriate and provided that there is an explicit and sufficiently reasoned request by the complainant, containing a compelling justification.

In the context of the Article 7 letter, the complainant has a right to request access to the documents on which the Commission bases its provisional assessment (Article 8 of Regulation 773/2004). The complainant has no right of access to file. The practical handling is as follows: – If the file does not contain any documents on which the Commission bases its provisional assessment that are not already in the complainant's possession no further access needs to be given. – If the file contains documents on which the Commission bases its provisional assessment that are not already in the complainant's possession copies of the documents are attached to the Article 7 letter.

If the Commission considers adopting an Article 9 commitment decision or an Article 10 finding of inapplicability decision, the procedure for the rejection of the complaint should be done in parallel with the Article 10 or Article 9 decision procedure.

As a commitment decision is only adopted when the commitments offered reduce the alleged competition concerns in such a way that there are no longer grounds for action by the Commission this will normally also entail that there are insufficient grounds for acting by conducting a further investigation into the alleged infringement ('lack of European Union interest'). In cases where the Commission intends to adopt a commitment decision the Commission will also inform the complainant about the market test and invite the complainant to submit comments.

The complainant will be informed by way of an Article 7(1) letter in which the Commission will inform the complainant about its intention to reject the complaint should the commitments be formally accepted. This letter should be sent before the Article 9 commitment decision is adopted.

If the complainant replies within the time limit and maintains the complaint but does not submit any elements that would change the assessment of the complaint, a rejection decision must be prepared.

Resources

References

Information about Rejection of Complaints Procedure First step in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Notes

[Note 1] Cf. also Notice on Complaints, paras 53 et seq. for an overview of the complaint procedure published by the Commission.
[Note 2] Empowerment decision of 28.4.2004, PV (2004)1655); sub-delegation decision of 3.6.2004, PH/2004/769.
[Note 3] Cf. Article 17 of Regulation 773/2004.
[Note 4] Article 7(1) 2nd sentence and Article 7(3) of Regulation 773/2004.

Rejection of Complaints Procedure First step

Rejection of Complaints Procedure First step