Statement of Objections Deadline for Reply Extension

Statement of Objections Deadline for Reply Extension

Statement of Objections Deadline for Reply Extension

If a party considers that the deadline is too short, it can seek an extension, within the initial time-limit, by making a reasoned request to DG Competition at least 10 working days before the expiry of the original time limit. 1

More about Statement of Objections Deadline for Reply Extension

If the extension is refused or in case of disagreement on the length of the extension granted, the requesting party is entitled to refer the matter for decision to the Hearing Officer by way of a statement explaining the reason why an extension is considered necessary and indicating the length of time required. The legal situation in this respect is laid down in Articles 10(2) and 17(2) of Regulation 773/2004, and Article 9 of the Hearing Officer's Terms of Reference 2 . The Hearing Officer will hear the Director responsible for the case before taking his/her decision and will inform the undertaking and DG Competition in writing. 3

More about the Subject

The criteria applied by the Hearing Officer in taking the decision are listed in Article 9(1) of the HO Terms of Reference: – the size and complexity of the file (for example, the number of infringements, the alleged duration of the infringement(s), the size and number of documents and/or the size and complexity of expert studies); – whether the addressee of the statement of objection making the request has had prior access to information; and/or – any other objective obstacles which may be faced by the addressee of the statement of objection making the request in providing its observations.

Other Considerations

Failure to reply within the fixed deadline does not affect the pursuit of the procedure. Pursuant to Article 10(2) of Regulation 773/2004 “[t]he Commission shall not be obliged to take into account written submissions received after the expiry of that time-limit”.

Resources

See Also

References

  • Information about Statement of Objections Deadline for Reply Extension in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Notes


[Note 1]
Best Practices Notice, paragraph 101.
[Note 2]
Decision of the President of the European Commission of 13 October 2011 on the function and terms of reference of the hearing officer in certain competition proceedings (OJ L 275, 20.10.2011, p. 29).
[Note 3]
Id., Article 9(1).

Further Reading

  • Information about Statement of Objections Deadline for Reply Extension in “An Introduction to EU Competition Law”, Moritz Lorenz (Cambridge University Press)

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