TITLE VI: The Competition Authority.

In order to be granted total or partial exemption from pecuniary penalties, the applicant must meet all of the following conditions: 1° The applicant must end its involvement in the prohibited practice without delay and at the latest immediately after submitting its application, except for what would be, in the opinion of the general rapporteur of the Autorité de la concurrence, reasonably necessary to preserve the integrity of the investigation;…

I.-An applicant who has applied to the European Commission for total or partial exemption from financial penalties, either by allocating a place in the order of arrival with a view to benefiting from such an exemption, or by filing a full application, may, if this application refers to a prohibited practice covering the territories of more than three Member States, submit to the Autorité de la concurrence a summary application…

Notifications of meetings of the Competition Authority shall be sent at least three weeks before the day of the meeting, either by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, or via a secure electronic document exchange platform. This time limit may be reduced by the general rapporteur when the Competition Authority convenes to rule pursuant to Article L. 464-1. The rapporteur who has investigated a case may present oral observations at…

For the application of article L. 464-6, the referrer and the Government Commissioner have two months to submit their written observations. They may present oral observations at the meeting.

I. – The Competition Authority’s decisions shall be notified either by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or via a secure electronic document exchange platform: 1° For the decisions referred to in Article L. 464-1, to the author of the request for precautionary measures, to the persons against whom the request is directed and to the Government Commissioner; 2° For the decisions mentioned in Article L. 462-8, to the author…

The decisions of the Autorité de la concurrence referred to in Article L. 470-7-1 are published on the Autorité’s website. Publicity may be limited to take account of the legitimate interest of the parties and the persons cited in ensuring that their business secrets are not divulged.

For the application of article L. 464-3, the Autorité de la concurrence shall give its decision after receiving a referral in accordance with the conditions set out in Article L. 462-5. Its decision is preceded by a report that is sent to the parties and the Government Commissioner, who have two months to submit their written observations. In urgent cases, this period may be reduced to one month by the…

The Minister responsible for the economy shall notify, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, the companies that it suspects of practices mentioned in Articles L. 420-1, L. 420-2, L. 420-2-1, L. 420-2-2 and L. 420-5 and which meet the turnover conditions specified in the first paragraph of article L. 464-9 the facts found to constitute the infringements attributed to them. This communication is accompanied by an administrative investigation report….

After examining the observations received, the Minister for the Economy informs each company concerned of his decision by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. He may close the case or order the companies to take measures to put an end to the anti-competitive practices observed and indicate the amount proposed as a settlement, or one of these last two measures only. For each company concerned, the decision sets out the…

If the company refuses the measures notified or does not comply with the injunction or does not pay the amount stipulated in the settlement, the Minister for the Economy refers the matter to the Competition Authority. Comments made by the companies to which the injunction or settlement is addressed as part of the procedure are not forwarded to the Competition Authority. The refusal or acceptance of one or more of…