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The General Court summarised the background to the case as follows at paragraphs 1 to 5 of the judgment under appeal: ‘1 The applicants — [Nexans] and its wholly-owned subsidiary [Nexans France] — are two French companies which carry out their activities in the electric cable sector. 2 By [the decision at issue], the Commission of the European Communities ordered Nexans and all companies directly or indirectly controlled by it, including Nexans France, to submit to an inspection in accordance with Article 20(4) of [Regulation No 1/2003]. 3 Article 1 of the [decision at issue] is worded as follows: “… Nexans …, together with all the companies it directly or indirectly controls, including Nexans France …, is obliged to submit to an inspection in relation to its (their) potential participation in anti-competitive agreements and/or concerted practices contrary to Article 81 EC … in relation to the supply of electric cables and material associated with such supply, including, amongst others, high voltage underwater electric cables, and, in certain cases, high voltage underground electric cables. Those agreements and/or concerted practices consist of the offering of concerted bids in public tenders, client allocation, as well as the illegal exchange of commercially‑sensitive information relating to the supply of those products. The inspection can take place at all the premises controlled by the company … … Nexans …, together with all the companies it directly or indirectly controls, including Nexans France …, authorises the officials and other persons mandated by the Commission to proceed with an inspection, and it authorises the officials and other persons mandated by the competition authority of the Member State or nominated by the latter to this effect to help them access all the premises and means of transport during normal office hours. It submits to inspection of the books as well as any other professional document, whichever its medium, if the officials or persons mandated request this and will allow them to examine these documents at the premises and to take or obtain under any format a copy or an extract of those books or documents. It authorises the sealing of all commercial premises and books or documents for the duration of the inspection and to the extent necessary for the purposes of the inspection. It immediately gives, at the premises, oral explanations relating to the subject-matter and purpose of the inspection if those officials or persons ask for such explanations and authorises any representative or member of staff to give such explanations. It authorises the recording of those explanations under whichever format.” 4 In Article 2 of the [decision at issue], the Commission states that the inspection can start on 28 January 2009. In Article 3 of that decision, it indicates that the [decision at issue] will be notified to the recipient undertaking immediately before the inspection. 5 The following reasons are given for the [decision at issue]: “The Commission received information that electric cable suppliers, including the companies targeted in this decision, were participating or had participated in agreements and/or concerted practices in relation to the supply of electric cables and material associated with such supply, including, amongst others, high voltage underwater electric cables, and, in certain cases, high voltage underground electric cables. Those agreements and/or concerted practices consist of the offering of concerted bids in public tenders, client attribution, as well as the illegal exchange of commercially‑sensitive information relating to the supply of those products. ... According to the information received by the Commission, th[ose] agreements and/or concerted practices …, which were put in place by 2001 at the latest, still exist today. … [They] probably have a global reach. Should those allegations prove to be well-founded, the agreements and/or concerted practices described above would account for very serious infringements under Article 81 EC. In order to enable the Commission to check all the facts in relation to the presumed agreements and concerted practices and the context in which they took place, it is necessary to carry out inspections pursuant to Article 20 of Regulation … No 1/2003. ...”’