Outline of the procedure

Outline of the procedure

Once the application has been received, the first step should be to prepare a written acknowledgement of receipt (if the applicant so requests) (see Section 4.3.2 below).

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Second step is to verify whether the evidence submitted meets the conditions in points 8(a) or 8(b). If the conditions are met, this will be followed by the adoption of a Commission decision granting the undertaking conditional immunity from fines (see Section (87)).

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If the conditions are not met, the undertaking will receive a Commission decision rejecting conditional immunity (see Section (88)) and it may either withdraw the evidence disclosed for the purpose of its application or request that the Commission considers the information for a possible reduction of a fine. The undertaking might alternatively have applied for a reduction of fines already in its application for immunity. In such case it will be acknowledged that such application was received and the undertaking will be informed that the Commission will verify whether the evidence meets the conditions set out in Notice, and will inform it accordingly (see Section 5 below on applications for a reduction of a fine).

Other Considerations

In some cases the undertaking may be informed via the acknowledgement of receipt that immunity is not available (see Section 4.3.4). Exceptionally, it may be possible to treat the case by way of a “non processing” or a “no action letter” (see Section 4.3.8).

Resources

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References

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

Notes

$$7%% For hypothetical applications, see Section 4.4 below.

Further Reading

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

Outline of the procedure

The procedural handling is similar to that for immediate applications for immunity (see Section 4.3 above).

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As in the case of immunity applications, the Leniency Notice provides that the Directorate- General for Competition will issue an acknowledgement of receipt of the application recording the date of the application, if requested by the applicant.

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Then, if the Commission comes to the preliminary conclusion that the evidence submitted constitutes significant added value, the Commission will issue a decision setting out its intention to apply a reduction of a fine within a specified band.

Other Considerations

The Commission must give a preliminary positive conclusion no later than the date on which a Statement of Objections is notified.

Resources

See Also

References

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

Further Reading

• Information about Outline of the procedure in EU Competition Procedure, 3rd. Edition, Edited by Luis Ortiz Blanco (Oxford University Press)