Cooperation between the surveillance authorities

Cooperation between the surveillance authorities

Cooperation between the surveillance authorities

The EEA Agreement obliges the competent enforcement authority to cooperate with the respective other authority when it applies the competition rules of the Agreement. Cooperation in general means information and consultation. As the Commission is dealing with the vast majority of cases where the competition provisions of the EEA Agreement are applied, it is usually the Commission which has to consult and to inform the ESA. The detailed rules on cooperation are set out in Protocol 23 of the Agreement.

More about Cooperation between the surveillance authorities

The Commission has to inform ESA about complaints and ex-officio procedures, has to consult the ESA at certain steps of the procedure (in particular when publishing an article 27(4) notice or issuing a Statement of Objections) 1 and to invite ESA and the EFTA national authorities to Hearings and the Advisory Committee. The Commission has to transmit a copy of administrative letters closing a file or rejecting a complaint (article 4 of Protocol 23).

Resources

See Also

References

  • Information about Cooperation between the surveillance authorities in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Notes


[Note 1]
Art 3 of Protocol 23 states that the “other surveillance authority may deliver its comments within the time limits set out in the abovementioned publication or statement of objections” and is interpreted as meaning the other authority receives the copy of the SO just after adoption rather than earlier. However, the Commission could always consult ESA earlier (and vice versa) in case they wanted to obtain the comments of the other.

Further Reading

  • Information about Cooperation between the surveillance authorities in “An Introduction to EU Competition Law”, Moritz Lorenz (Cambridge University Press)

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