Clifford Chance
Obstructing anti-trust inspections in the CEE region
31 January 2011
In the nineties, national competition authorities in the CEE region were sometimes
passive or lacked effective sanctions against procedural obstructions created by
companies under investigation. Times have changed though and now both the
European Commission and the national competition authorities in the CEE part
of the EU see the obstruction of investigations as a "sin" in itself, worthy of
a separate fine. Companies should be warned: obstructing investigations by the
antitrust authorities may prove harmful – and quite costly.
This briefing provides an overview of the legal background and relevant
precedents before the European Commission and the national competition
authorities in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
