The matter of access to documents and the protection of business secrets and other confidential information - Regulation on the conduct

The European Commission proposal issued in June 2013 aims to ensure that throughout Europe, victims of infringements of competition rules have access to effective mechanisms for obtaining full compensation for the harm they suffered and improve the level of compliance with the EU competition rules.

In relation to the effectiveness of the future harmonized mechanisms of enforcement, the matter of access to Commission file must be recognised as significant.

Natural or legal persons having chosen to lodge a complaint should be given the possibility to be associated closely with the proceedings initiated by the Commission with a view to finding an infringement. However, they should not have access to business secrets or other confidential information belonging to other parties involved in the proceedings. Where business secrets or other confidential information are necessary to prove an infringement, the Commission should assess for each individual document whether the need to disclose is greater than the harm which might result from disclosure.

Where the Commission has informed the complainant of its intention to reject a complaint pursuant to Article 7(1) the complainant may request access to the documents on which the Commission bases its provisional assessment. For this purpose, the complainant may however not have access to business secrets and other confidential information belonging to other parties involved in the proceedings.

Not even for the parties involved in the proceedings, the right of access to the file shall not extend to business secrets, other confidential information and internal documents of the Commission or of the competition authorities of the Member States. The right of access to the file shall also not extend to correspondence between the Commission and the competition authorities of the Member States or between the latter where such correspondence is contained in the file of the Commission.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 773/2004 of 7 April 2004 relating to the conduct of proceedings by the Commission pursuant to Articles 101 and 102 TFEU