Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Competition - Administrative proceedings - Investigation of complaints - Order of priority assigned by the Commission - Account taken of Community interest in the investigation of a case - Discretion enjoyed by the Commission - Commission obliged to state reasons for a decision not to investigate a complaint further - Judicial review

((EC Treaty, Art. 190 (now Art. 253 EC); Council Regulation No 17, Art. 31)

2. Competition - Administrative proceedings - Investigation of complaints - Assessment of the Community interest in investigation of a case - Account taken of the existence of a number of complaints alleging similar conduct - Assessment of all the evidence - Joinder of administrative proceedings - Commission's discretion

(Council Regulation No 17, Art. 3)

3. Competition - Administrative proceedings - Investigation of complaints - Commission's obligations - Observance of a reasonable period - Breach - Consequences - Annulment of the decision rejecting a complaint - Excluded

(Council Regulation No 17, Art. 3)

Summary

1. When it decides to assign different priorities to the examination of complaints submitted to it under Article 3 of Regulation No 17, the Commission may not only decide on the order in which they are to be examined but also reject a complaint on the ground that there is insufficient Community interest in further investigation of the case.

However, the discretion which the Commission has for that purpose is not unlimited. Thus, the Commission is under an obligation to state reasons if it declines to continue with the examination of a complaint and those reasons must be sufficiently precise and detailed to enable the Court effectively to review the Commission's use of its discretion to define priorities.

That review must not lead the Court to substitute its assessment of the Community interest for that of the Commission but focuses on whether or not the contested decision is based on materially incorrect facts, or is vitiated by an error of law, a manifest error of appraisal or misuse of powers.

( see paras 30-31 )

2. When assessing the Community interest in investigating a complaint the Commission must not investigate it in isolation but rather in the context of the situation on the relevant market in general. The existence of a number of complaints alleging similar conduct by the same operators is one of the factors the Commission must take into account in its assessment of the Community interest.

Similarly, where the Commission assesses the likelihood of being able to establish the existence of an infringement and the extent of the investigative measures needed for that purpose, it must take into account all the evidence in its possession and not merely assess separately the individual items of evidence submitted by each complainant and conclude that each of the complaints taken in isolation is not supported by sufficient evidence.

However, the Commission is not required to join the procedures for examining different complaints concerning the conduct of a particular undertaking, since the conduct of an investigation falls within the scope of its discretion. In particular, the fact that there are a number of complaints from operators belonging to different categories such as, in the context of the sale of motor vehicles, independent resellers, authorised intermediaries and dealers cannot preclude the dismissal of such of those complaints as appear, according to the evidence available to the Commission, to be unfounded or lacking in Community interest. In such cases, the fact of having treated the different complaints separately cannot be regarded as such as being improper.

( see paras 34-36 )

3. Although it is true that the Commission is required to adopt, within a reasonable time, a decision on a complaint under Article 3 of Regulation No 17, the fact that it exceeds a reasonable time, even if proven, does not necessarily in itself justify annulment of the contested decision.

As regards application of the competition rules, a failure to act within a reasonable time can constitute a ground for annulment only in the case of a decision finding an infringement, where it has been proved that infringement of that principle has adversely affected the ability of the undertakings concerned to defend themselves. Except in that specific circumstance, failure to comply with the principle that a decision must be adopted within a reasonable time cannot affect the validity of the administrative procedure under Regulation No 17.

( see paras 51-52 )