Guidance Letters and Analysis of the request

Guidance Letters: Analysis of the request against criteria, priorities and facts

The Commission, seized of a request for a guidance letter, will consider whether it is appropriate to process it or not. A first reply should be sent by the unit dealing with the request to the applicant(s) within fifteen working days following the receipt of the request. Two answers are possible at that stage: – A letter directly rejecting the request: this will allow immediate rejection of requests which obviously (i) do not fulfil the criteria or (ii) are not considered as a priority. The letter rejecting the request will not refer to the substance but only to the fact that the Commission does not consider it as a priority. It should also state that Commission is not precluded from subsequently examining that same agreement or practice in a procedure under Regulation 1/2003. – A holding reply, if the request seems to fulfil the criteria detailed above and merits to be further analysed. The letter will indicate that the Commission services are currently analysing the request and that the final evaluation (issuance of a guidance letter or refusal) will follow.

More about Guidance Letters and Analysis of the request

In order to make this first assessment of the request, the unit should: – make a first assessment of the request against the conditions set out in the Notice; – check the facts set out by the undertakings; – make a first assessment whether it is appropriate to prepare a Guidance letter in the light of DG Competition's enforcement priorities.

Resources

See Also

References

• Information about Guidance Letters and Analysis of the request in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Further Reading

• Information about Guidance Letters and Analysis of the request in EU Competition Procedure, 3rd. Edition, Edited by Luis Ortiz Blanco (Oxford University Press)