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Competition Policy

Requests for information or for an opinion - Article 15(1)

Requests for information

A national court may ask the Commission for information it holds, such as documents in its possession and information of a procedural nature.

The Commission will endeavour to provide the national court with the requested information within one month from the date it receives the request.

Requests for information or opinion vs. preliminary rulings (Article 267 TFEU)

The right of a national court to ask the Commission for an opinion (Article 15(1) of Regulation 1/2003) does not prejudice the possibility or the obligation of the national court to ask the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU.

The authoritative interpretation of EU law by the Court of Justice is binding on the national court, in contrast to the non-binding character of Commission opinions.

A preliminary ruling by the Court of Justice concerns the interpretation of the law of the European Union and the validity of acts of secondary legislation, whereas a national court may ask the Commission for its opinion pursuant to Article 15(1) of Regulation 1/2003 on economic, factual and legal matters.

 

Requests for an opinion

A national court may ask the Commission for its opinion on economic, factual and legal matters concerning the application of EU competition rules.

To ensure that the Commission has a clear understanding of the factual and legal context of the proceedings, the request for an opinion should:

  • include a brief account of the subject-matter of the dispute and the relevant findings of fact, or, at least, set out the factual situation on which the question referred is based,
  • explain the reasons which prompted the national court to request an opinion; and
  • include, where appropriate, a summary of the main arguments of the parties.

It is recommended to:

  • keep requests for an opinion as short as possible and to use simple, clear and concise language, in view of the frequent need for the Commission to translate them.
  • number the points or paragraphs of the request for an opinion.
  • include the question(s) of the request in a clearly identified section.

The Commission will endeavour to provide the national court with the requested opinion within four months from the date it receives the request. Where the Commission has requested the national court for further information in order to enable it to formulate its opinion, that period starts to run from the moment that it receives the additional information.

 

Opinions issued

The opinions are sorted by year in which the opinion was issued.

The opinions published below are those for which the national court has granted permission for publication.

 

2022

Case | Ronja SRL and Wijns Drinks Service SA vs Eurogames Amusement SRL

National Court | Court of Appeal Brussels (Belgium)

Commission opinion | 24.05.2022 fr

National Court judgment | 24.11.2022

Summary & background | Article 101 TFEU – Notion of agreement – Trade Association – Market- Sharing – Use of judicial proceedings for anticompetitive purposes

 

2019

Case | Selective distribution network for motor vehicles in Bulgaria

National Court | Supreme Administrative Court, Sofia (Bulgaria)

Commission opinion | 03/12/2019

National Court judgment | [case still pending]

Summary & background | Article 101 TFEU – Vertical agreements– Effect on trade – concept of ‘appreciability’- calculation of the supplier’s turnover in the case of several agreements covering different activities


Case | SABAM

National Court | Court of Appeal, Brussels (Belgium)

Commission opinion | 13/8/2019 nl

National Court judgment | [case still pending]

Summary & background | Article 102 TFEU – Abuse of a dominant position – Concept of 'unfair prices' – Royalties levied by a copyright management body

 

2017

Case | Selective distribution of shoes

National Court | Commercial Court (Belgium), Antwerp

Commission opinion | 29/11/2017

National Court judgment | [case still pending]

Summary & background | Selective distribution – Article 101 TFEU – Article 102 TFEU – market definition – block exemption
 

Case | Tax litigation

National Court | First Instance Court, Germany

Commission opinion | 27/10/2017 de

National Court judgment | 22.12.2017 de

Summary & background | Tax deductibility of cartel fines – principle of effectiveness – nature of fines: taking away advantages of infringement and/or punishment – 2006 - Guidelines on the method of setting fines imposed pursuant to Article 23(2)(a) of Regulation No 1/2003 – Case COMP/39092 - Bathroom Fittings and Fixtures

 

2015

Case | Novartis

National Court | Hungarian Court, Budapest (Fővárosi Közigazgatási és Munkaügyi Bíróság)

Commission opinion | 18/11/2015 hu

National Court judgment | 26/01/2016 hu

Summary & background | Scope of the burden of proof – exchange of information– Article 101 TFEU –restriction by effect- evaluation of the appreciable restrictive effects - actual or potential effects – Horizontal Guidelines
 

Case | Air transport sector

National Court | Supreme Court (LV)

Commission opinion | 22/12/2015

National Court judgment | Proceedings closed without judgment

Summary & background | Abuse of a dominant position -discrimination – tariff differentiation – State Aid - anticompetitive effects
 

Case | Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd v MasterCard Incorporated and Others

National Court | First Instance Court (UK), London

Commission opinion | 29/10/2015 en

National Court judgment | 14/07/2016 en

Summary & background | Disclosure of documents obtained by parties through access to file – ongoing Commission's investigations – protection of confidential information – interests of third parties ( Summary )
 

Case | Romanian Waste Collection

National Court | Appeal Court (Romania, Bucharest)

Commission opinion | 06/07/2015

National Court judgment | [case still pending]

Summary & background | Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive – Buy-Back Campaigns – electro-domestic equipment – association of undertakings – restriction by object and restriction by effect – price fixing – definition of the relevant market

 

2014

Case | Secretary of State and others v. Servier

National Court | First Instance Court (UK), London

Commission opinion | 22/12/2014 en

National Court judgment | 12/03/2015 en

Summary & background | Disclosure of confidential version Commission decision – confidentiality ring – protection of business secrets and other confidential information – interests of third parties – Articles 7 and 8 Charter on Fundamental Rights – Article 339 TFEU –  Article 28(2) Regulation 1/2003 – Article 15(4) Regulation 773/2004 – Postbank ( Summary )
 

 

Case | Mobile telephony sector

National Court | Court of Appeal (France), Paris

Commission opinion | 01/12/2014 en

National Court judgment | 19/05/2016 en

Summary & background | Abuse of a dominant position -discrimination  –  tariff differentiation –  sectoral regulation -  anticompetitive effects
 

Case | Payment systems

National Court | First Instance Court (Belgium), Brussels

Commission opinion | 05/06/2014

National Court judgment | [case still pending]

Summary & background | Payment systems – certification agreement – certification procedure – compatibility with Article 101 TFEU – individual exemption under Article 101(3)
 

Case | Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc and Others / MasterCard Incorporated and Others

National Court | High Court of Justice (UK)

Commission opinion | 05/05/2014 en

National Court judgment | 30/01/2017 en

Summary & background | Disclosure of documents created in the course of the investigation - confidential version of Commission decision – principles established in Pfleiderer case – protection of confidential information ( Summary )

 

2013

Case | Spanish Fuel Stations

National Court | Commercial Court (Spain), Madrid

Commission opinion | 07/10/2013

National Court judgment | [case still pending]

Summary & background | Decision COMP/38348/REPSOL – Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003 – compliance with commitments – indirect fixing of resale price – non-compete clause – Vertical Block Exemption Regulation

 

2012

Case | Kapitol S.A. v Magyar Telekom

National Court | Appeal Court (Belgium), Brussels

Commission opinion | 07/08/2012 fr

National Court judgment | 13/11/2014 fr

Summary & background | Abuse of a dominant position; refusal to supply; database; universal service; national legislation ( Summary )