Luxembourg, January 26, 2025 — Italy’s Council of State has asked the EU’s top court to clarify whether companies can obtain access to documents linked to cooperation between national competition authorities under EU enforcement rules, in a dispute involving Ryanair and the Italian competition authority, according to the EU Official Journal.
The request for a preliminary ruling, lodged on November 7, 2025, concerns the interpretation of Article 27(2) of Regulation 1/2003, which restricts access to certain materials in EU competition proceedings. The referring court is seeking guidance on whether that exclusion applies to documents connected to assistance requests exchanged between national authorities under Article 22(1) of the same regulation.
The underlying proceedings involve Ryanair DAC and Ryanair Holdings Plc as appellants and Italy’s Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) as the respondent. The questions focus on whether the EU framework prevents access to documents tied to a national authority’s request to another national authority, or whether national rules continue to govern that aspect.
Access to Cooperation Requests
In its first question, the Council of State asks whether the exclusion from access set out in Article 27(2) applies to documents relating to an assistance request made under Article 22(1), or whether access remains governed by applicable national provisions.
The second question asks whether a request for assistance between national competition authorities falls within the concept of “internal documents” and/or “correspondence” between authorities for the purposes of Article 27(2).
The case is C-711/25 an Italian request for preliminary ruling involving Ryanair and the Italian Competition Authority before the European Court of Justice.
Source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C_202600295
