Registers
Europese Commissie — Mededingingszaken
The case register of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition brings together the published decisions in antitrust and cartel cases, merger cases, state aid cases and foreign subsidies cases. The search function allows searching by policy area, case number, title and date. For each case the register shows the timeline with notification and decision dates, the decision texts and attachments, the Official Journal publications and the press releases. For Dutch practice it is where you find not just the outcome but also the reasoning and the course of a Commission procedure.
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What this source does not give you
What appears here is the published, non-confidential version: publication of decisions must have regard to the legitimate interest of undertakings in the protection of their business secrets, so passages may be missing. Ongoing investigations in which no decision has been taken yield no decision text here, and cases under the Digital Markets Act have their own separate case register.
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Frequently asked questions
- Is the text in the case register the official decision?
- It is the published version of the decision, not the copy notified to the addressees. Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 obliges the Commission to publish the decisions it takes under articles 7 to 10 and articles 23 and 24, stating the names of the parties and the main content of the decision, including any penalties imposed. For mergers, Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 provides that decisions under article 8(1) to (6) and articles 14 and 15 are published in the Official Journal together with the opinion of the advisory committee, stating the parties concerned and the main content of the decision. For citation in a court document you therefore refer to the Official Journal publication and the case number.
- Which types of case are included, and which are not?
- The search function is built around four instruments: antitrust and cartels, mergers, state aid and foreign subsidies, each with its own case number series. Cases under the Digital Markets Act fall outside it: for those the Commission maintains a separate case register on its own domain. National competition cases are not included either — those are handled by the national competition authorities within the European Competition Network, in the Netherlands the Authority for Consumers and Markets, and published through their own channels.
- Why does the text of a decision appear long after the press release?
- Because a confidentiality round sits between the decision and its publication. Both Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 and the Merger Regulation require that publication have regard to the legitimate interest of undertakings in the protection of their business secrets. The register reflects that sequence too: it keeps the press release date, the Official Journal publication date and the decision text with attachments as separate items. Anyone researching on the day of the decision therefore often has only the press release, and has to come back later for the reasoning.
- Are interim decisions in merger cases included as well?
- No, those are excluded. The Merger Regulation obliges the Commission to publish decisions under article 8(1) to (6) and articles 14 and 15, but expressly excludes interim decisions taken in accordance with article 18(2). In the register that means: the absence of a decision text in a pending case is not an indication that the Commission has done nothing. For the state of play, follow the timeline with notification, re-notification and decision dates, and the press releases.
- Does a fining decision mean the case is final?
- Not necessarily. Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 gives the Court of Justice unlimited jurisdiction to review decisions in which the Commission has fixed a fine or periodic penalty payment: it may cancel, reduce or increase the fine or penalty imposed. A decision in the register may therefore be under judicial review, and the final amount may differ from what the decision states. So when citing a fine, always check whether an appeal to the General Court or the Court of Justice is pending or has been decided; the register links from cases to the Court's case law database.