Acts for which no prior information of other services is required

For a number of measures to be adopted by empowerment or sub-delegation no prior information of other services is foreseen (with the exception of the Legal Service which must always be asked for prior approval).

More about Acts for which no prior information of other services is required

Such is the case where (a) strict confidentiality is necessary such as in the case of unannounced inspections ordered by decision or the handling of leniency applications 1 or (b) the measure is a measure of technical case administration in respect of the conduct of the proceedings or in respect of the oral hearing, publication of Commission acts in the Official Journal or access to the file.

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The regime of no information applies to the following measures: – the 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 his complaint (Article 7(2) of Regulation 1/2003 and Article 7(1) of Regulation 773/2004); – rejection of complaint by Commission decision (Article 7(2) of Regulation 1/2003 and Article 7(2) of Regulation 773/2004; Article 13(1)(sentence 2), 13(2) of Regulation 1/2003 and Article 9 of Regulation 773/2004; Article 29(1) of Regulation 1/2003) except for rejections of complaints for lack of Community interest which are subject to the normal prior information regime and for rejections of complaints on substantive grounds for which a special involvement regime applies (see below 3.2.2.3); – refusal by the Commission to transmit confidential information (Article 15(1)(alt.1) of Regulation 1/2003 and points 23-26 Notice on cooperation with National Courts); – Commission decision requesting information from undertakings and associations of undertakings (Article 18(3) of Regulation 1/2003); – Commission decision ordering inspections of undertakings and associations of undertakings (Article 20(4) of Regulation 1/2003); – Commission decision to order inspections of other premises (Article 21(1) of Regulation 1/2003); – Commission decision requesting an NCA to undertake an inspection (Art. 22(2) of Regulation 1/2003); – written commitment by the Commission not to use certain information exchanged in the European Competition Network (ECN) for imposing sanctions on a leniency applicant or certain other persons (point 41(2) of the Commission Notice on cooperation within the network of competition authorities); – The refusal by the Commission to allow the complainant to express his views at the oral hearing (Article 7(2) of Regulation 1/2003 and Article 6(2) of Regulation 773/2004); – refusal by Commission to hear third parties (other than addressees of a statement of objections or complainants) for lack of sufficient interest (Article 27(3) of Regulation 1/2003 and Article 13(1) of Regulation 773/2004); – refusal by Commission to invite third parties (other than addressees of a statement of objections or complainants) to develop their arguments at the oral hearing (Article 27(3) of Regulation 1/2003 and Article 13(2) of Regulation 773/2004);

Other Considerations

The “no information” regime also applies with regard to the application of the empowerment on the application of the 2002 and 2007 Leniency Notices. Decisions to grant (or not to grant) conditional immunity or acts informing applicants of the Commission's intent to grant a reduction of fines (or to reject it) (see above Section 2.2.2) can therefore be adopted without prior information of Services other than the LS (the prior approval of which remains necessary).

Finally, all decision-making powers delegated to the Hearing Officer do not require prior information of any other service but the LS, the agreement of which is always required.

Resources

References

Information about Acts for which no prior information of other services is required in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Notes

[Note 1] See Commission decision of 13.2.2002, PV(2002)1555 adopting document SEC(2002)119

Acts for which no prior information of other services is required

Acts for which no prior information of other services is required