Communication from the Commission — Amendments to the Commission Notice on the rules for access to the Commission file in cases pursuant to Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty, Articles 53, 54 and 57 of the EEA Agreement and Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004
Date: 2015-08-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, access to information, competition law, competition policy, economic concentration, provision of documents








C_2015256EN.01000301.xml










5.8.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 256/3





COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
Amendments to the Commission Notice on the rules for access to the Commission file in cases pursuant to Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty, Articles 53, 54 and 57 of the EEA Agreement and Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004
(2015/C 256/03)






1.


The Notice on the rules for access to the Commission file in cases pursuant to Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty, Articles 53, 54 and 57 of the EEA Agreement and Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) is hereby amended as follows.










2.


In paragraph 6, the reference to ‘the Commission Decision of 23 May 2001 on the terms of reference of Hearing Officers in certain competition proceedings (2)’ is replaced by the following text:
‘Decision 2011/695/EU 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 (3).

(3)  OJ L 275, 20.10.2011, p. 29.’"
						










3.


Paragraph 9 is replaced by the following text:






‘9.


In the course of competition investigations, the Commission may obtain a number of documents, some of which may, following a more detailed examination, prove to be unrelated to the subject matter of the case in question (4). Such documents may be returned to the undertaking from which they have been obtained. Upon return, these documents will no longer constitute part of the file.





(4)  Judgment in Aalborg Portland and others v. Commission, C-204/00 P, C-205/00 P, C-211/00 P, C-213/00 P, C-217/00 P and C-219/00 P, EU:C:2004:6, paragraph 126.’"
						










4.


Footnote 4 in paragraph 13 is replaced by the following text:






‘(4)


Cf. Judgment of 30 September 2003, Atlantic Container Line and others v Commission, T-191/98 and T-212/98 to T-214/98, ECR, EU:T:2003:245, paragraphs 349-359. See also the Commission Notice on best practices for the conduct of proceedings concerning Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (OJ C 308, 20.10.2011, p. 6) point 44.’














5.


This footnote is added at the end of paragraph 27:






‘(*)


See also the Commission Notice on best practices for the conduct of proceedings concerning Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (OJ C 308, 20.10.2011, p. 6) point 103.’














6.


Footnote 6 of paragraph 42 is replaced by the following text:






‘(6)


Cf. Articles 3(7) and 8 of Decision 2011/695/EU 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).’














7.


Footnote 5 of paragraph 47 is replaced by the following text:






‘(5)


Cf. Articles 3(7) and 7 of Decision 2011/695/EU 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).’














8.


Paragraph 48 is replaced by the following text:






‘48.


Access to the file in accordance with this notice is granted on the condition that the information thereby obtained may only be used for the purposes of judicial or administrative proceedings for the application of the Union competition rules (5). The use of this information in breach of the limitations set out in Article 16a of Regulation (EC) No 773/2004 is in certain situations subject to penalties under national law (6). If the use for a different purpose or the breach of the said limitations occurred with the involvement of an outside counsel, the Commission may report the incident to the bar of that counsel, with a view to disciplinary action.





(5)  Article 16a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 773/2004, as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1348 (OJ L 208, 5.8.2015, p. 3)."
						

(6)  See, with respect to limitations of use in damages actions of certain categories of evidence, Articles 7 and 8 of Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing action for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union, OJ L 349, 5.12.2014, p. 1.’"
						










9.


The Commission shall apply these amendments as from the date of entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2015/1348, amending Regulation (EC) No 773/2004.






(1)  OJ C 325, 22.12.2005, p. 7.

(2)  OJ L 162, 19.6.2001, p. 21.