Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Competition - Administrative procedure - Examination of complaints - Statement of reasons for a decision rejecting a complaint

(Council Regulation No 17, Art. 3)

2. Competition - Administrative procedure - Examination of complaints - Account taken of Community interest attached to the investigation of a case - Criteria of assessment

(Council Regulation No 17, Art. 3)

Summary

1. When it rejects a complaint submitted to it under Article 3 of Regulation No 17, the Commission is required to set out the reasons for its decisions to reject it, and more particularly to state the reasons for its assessment of whether or not it was appropriate to examine the complaint any further, in a sufficiently precise and detailed manner to enable the Community judicature effectively to review the Commission's use of its discretion to define priorities. On the other hand, it is under no obligation to include in its decision an express reference to the concept of Community interest.

( see para. 54 )

2. The Commission, in the exercise of its discretion, must take into consideration all the relevant matters of law and of fact in order to decide on what action to take in response to a complaint and more particularly, must consider attentively all the matters of fact and of law which the complainant brings to its attention. However, in view of the fact that the assessment of the Community interest raised by a complaint depends on the circumstances of each case, the number of criteria of assessment to which the Commission may refer should not be limited nor, conversely, should it be required to have recourse exclusively to certain criteria.

( see paras 57-58 )