Documents in the file

Documents to put in the file

The preparation for access to file entails the following: – Documents that upon examination are not objectively linked to the investigation or do not respond to the question asked in a request for information can be returned (see paragraph (13) above). This should be done without undue delay 1 . The decision whether to return such documents is within the full discretion of the Commission (i.e. no standing of an information provider to request the returning of documents). – Multiple versions of the identical document sent by e-mail, fax, normal mail, etc. are uploaded by the Registry into the case file and may be deleted by the case team only if they are identical. These documents are deleted with the following reason for deletion “duplicate of IDxxx”. As a matter of principle, data entries and scanning carried out by the Registry should be checked on a continuous basis by the Registry and the case team. Multiple non-finalised, non-confidential versions of the same document should be avoided. Keep only the final version as accessible and mark the previous versions as non-accessible. – Non-confidential versions have to be systematically requested from the information providers and put in the file (see above section 2.4.1 Informing companies how to lodge confidentiality requests).

Resources

See Also

References

• Information about Documents in the file in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Notes

[Note 1] Even if information appears to be not relevant at a later stage, there should be possibilities to return the documents, to be assessed on a case by case basis and in close co-operation with the Hearing Officers.

Further Reading

• Information about Documents in the file in “An Introduction to EU Competition Law”, Moritz Lorenz (Cambridge University Press)