21 May, 2015

DG COMP’s settlement procedure evaluated in Timab Industries

After the Alrosa case, the General Court once again had the opportunity to evaluate the difference between the different remedies used by the Commission to enforce Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. This time the case did not deal with the commitments procedure, but rather with the settlement procedure in Article 10a of Regulation 773/2004. The Commission often switches between the different procedures (as last seen in the Google case here) or pursues hybrid cases, such as in the present case, where some parties are part of the settlement procedure and some part of the standard procedure. It is therefore important to know to what extent the Commission can use these different procedures, how they are linked and what rights undertakings subject to these procedures enjoy. This is exactly what the General Court had to decide on in the Timab Industries case, handed down yesterday (May 20, 2015).