WRITTEN QUESTION E-1910/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (4 June 1997)

Subject: XXVth report on competition policy

With reference to the 'XXVth report on competition policy (1995)' (COM(96) 0126 final) and the 'draft Commission notice on cooperation between national competition authorities and the Commission in handling cases falling within the scope of Articles 85 or 86 of the EC Treaty' ((OJ C 262, 10.9.1996, p. 5. )),

will the Commission make significant improvements with regard to procedural law, the right of defence, access to documents and the length of proceedings (even if progress has been made on this last point)?

Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (18 June 1997)

The Commission is well aware of the need, particularly in view of the limited administrative resources available, for it to constantly review ways of improving its procedures for dealing with issues relating to competition, as referred to in Articles 85 and 86 of the EC Treaty.

This review has resulted in a number of steps and planned measures in the areas mentioned by the Honourable Member. As regards respect for the right of defence, for instance, having considerably extended the remit of the Hearing Officer ((Decision of 12 December 1994 (OJ L 330, 21.12.1994). )), the Commission has shown its concern for transparency in relations with undertakings by clarifying and regularizing its practices as regards access to the file under consideration, in the light of recent case-law handed down by the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance. This it has done by first defining non-communicable documents, all other documents in the file being accessible to the parties concerned ((Notice of 20 January 1997 (OJ C 23, 23.1.1997). )). Moreover, the Commission is currently conducting a full review of Commission Regulation No 99/63/EEC ((OJ 127, 20.8.1963. )) of 25 July 1963 on hearings, which could result in the revision of the said Regulation.

The Commission has also introduced a number of measures designed to expedite the handling of such matters and to concentrate its resources on the most important cases. These include 'structural' cooperative joint ventures, to which the Commission decided in 1992 (XXIInd Report on Competition Policy, paragraphs 123-124) to apply a rapid procedure like that applied to concentrative joint ventures. This year, it has also adopted internal management measures allowing cases which are not of great significance as regards competition policy to be dealt with rapidly. Moreover, as the preliminary draft notice quoted by the Honourable Member shows, it is the Commission's policy to call on national authorities to deal with complaints which are not of sufficient importance at Community level, in the light of the case-law handed down by the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance.

Furthermore, in the preliminary draft notice on the decentralized application of Articles 85 and 86 referred to above, the Commission expresses its hope that differences in the procedural rules in force in the various Member States will not result in solutions of differing effectiveness in response to similar cases, which would prove detrimental to legal certainty for economic operators.