Rejection of complaints

Rejection of complaints: access to information on which the Commission has based the preliminary view

The General Court has ruled 1 that complainants do not have the same rights and guarantees as the parties under investigation. Therefore complainants cannot claim a right of access to the file on the same basis as parties under investigation.

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Nevertheless, the complainant has a right of access to information on which the Commission has based the preliminary view set out in the letter rejecting the complaint 2 .

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Complainants do not have a right of access to business secrets or other confidential information which the Commission has obtained in the course of its investigation.

Other Considerations

The Notice on complaints 3 explains that access to the information on which the Commission has based its rejection will normally be provided by annexing to the letter a copy of the relevant documentation 4 .

Resources

References

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

Notes

[Note 1] See Case T-17/93 Matra-Hachette SA v Commission [1994] ECR II-595, para. 34. The Court ruled that the rights of third parties, as laid down by Article 19 of Regulation No 17 (now replaced by Article 27 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003), were limited to the right to participate in the administrative procedure.
[Note 2] Article 8(1) of Reg 773/2004.
[Note 3] Commission Notice on the handling of complaints by the Commission under Article 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty, OJ C 101, 27.04.2004, p. 65.
[Note 4] Notice on complaints, para. 69.

Rejection or suspension in light of a NCA case

Pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation 1/2003, the Commission may reject a complaint or suspend proceedings on the grounds that a competition authority of a Member State is dealing or has dealt with the same case. A rejection pursuant to Article 13 is not a referral decision 1 , it merely closes the complaint procedure by the Commission.

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The NCA should be asked to confirm that they are actively dealing/have actively dealt with the case by way of a standard form. The forms do not need to be translated. The NCA should also be asked when the complainant can be informed (possibility of an embargo, if a surprise inspection is planned).

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If the Commission comes to the conclusion that it should not pursue the case for the reasons mentioned above, it will first inform the complainant in a meeting or by phone that it has come to the preliminary view that the case may be rejected. Once informed, the complainant may decide to withdraw the complaint. Otherwise, if the complainant upholds the complaint, prepare a formal rejection pursuant to Article 13, in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation 773/2004. The rejection contains explanations on the following points: – It identifies the agreements or practice complained of. – It states that the same case is or has been dealt with by the NCA. To the extent necessary, it specifies why the cases are identical (see above). – It specifies the NCA's proceedings by reference to the national case number(s), dates of measures taken, national rejection decision or equivalent identifiers.

Other Considerations

The rejection does not contain any substantive explanations.

Article 13 creates a possibility to reject, not an obligation. It may happen that an NCA is already dealing with a complaint that could equally be a priority for the Commission. This situation is not covered in the current chapter, but in the ECN Module.

Resources

References

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

Notes

[Note 1] In the antitrust area, the Commission and the NCAs have parallel competences to deal with cases under Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty (as long as the Commission does not formally initiate proceedings). “Re-allocation” in the ECN implies that one authority goes ahead with a case while another abstains from acting or closes its file. There is no need to “transfer” the case or, a fortiori, to “transfer” the competence to deal with the case.

Rejection of Complaints

Rejection of complaints