Power to take Statements

Power to take Statements

Power to take Statements. Introduction

Article 19 of Council Regulation 1/2003 provides the Commission with the possibility to interview any natural or legal person who consents to be interviewed for the purpose of collecting information relating to the subject-matter of an investigation. Other procedural provisions on carrying out the interviews are provided in Article 3 of the Commission Implementing Regulation. For further guidance, see also the Notice on best practices for the conduct of proceedings concerning Articles 101 and 102 TFEU1 (“Notice on Antitrust Best Practices”), section 2.5.6.

More about Power to take Statements

The information provided by interviewees can be used as evidence in the subsequent course of the procedure.

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The interview is carried out on a voluntary basis. Accordingly, the interviewee can discontinue the interview at any moment. It is important to distinguish the possibility to conduct an interview pursuant to Article 19 of Council Regulation 1/2003 from the possibility to ask oral questions during an inspection pursuant to Article 20 (2) (e) of Council Regulation 1/2003. Only with respect to oral questions asked during inspections employees of an undertaking (be it representatives who have the authority to speak on behalf of the undertaking or other members of staff) are obliged to answer to questions. Only with respect to these questions may the Commission under certain conditions impose fines pursuant to Article 23 (1) (d) of Council Regulation 1/2003 if the answers are incorrect, incomplete, misleading or if the representative fails or refuses to reply.

Resources

See Also

References

  • Information about Power to take Statements in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Further Reading

  • Information about Power to take Statements in EU Competition Procedure, 3rd. Edition, Edited by Luis Ortiz Blanco (Oxford University Press)

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