The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has rules (3 February) that strict national time limits for issuing statements of objections in competition law cases may undermine the effective enforcement of EU antitrust rules.
The case, C-511/23, arose after a national competition authority challenged a domestic law requiring it to issue a statement of objections within 90 days of becoming aware of an alleged infringement’s essential elements. Failure to meet this deadline would lead to the automatic annulment of proceedings.
In its judgment, the CJEU emphasized that while procedural safeguards are essential for protecting businesses’ rights, they must not hinder the enforcement of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which prohibit anti-competitive agreements and abuses of dominant market positions.
The Court ruled that such rigid deadlines could prevent authorities from carrying out thorough investigations and risk letting companies evade penalties due to procedural technicalities rather than the merits of the case. Member States must ensure that their procedural rules do not make EU competition law “impossible or excessively difficult” to apply.
