C O N S I L I U L

C O N C U R E N T E I ,

ACCESUL LA DOSARELE INSTRUMENTATE DE CONSILIUL CONCURENTEI ,

(n cazul practicilor anticoncurentiale , si al concentrarilor economice) ,
(

THE ACCESS TO THE COMPETITION COUNCILS INVESTIGATION FILES

(in the cases regarding anticompetitive practices and economic concentrations)

ACCESUL LA DOSARELE INSTRUMENTATE DE CONSILIUL CONCURENTEI ,

(n cazul practicilor anticoncurentiale , si al concentrarilor economice) ,
(

THE ACCESS TO THE COMPETITION COUNCILS INVESTIGATION FILES

(in the cases regarding anticompetitive practices and economic concentrations)

CUPRINS / SUMMARY
How is the right of defense ensured in the Competition Councils investigations? Cum se asigur dreptul la aprare n procedurile Consiliului Concurenei? Why is the access to the Competition Council file important? De ce este important asigurarea accesului la dosare? Who can ask for the access to the file and in which moment? Cine poate solicita accesul la dosar i n ce moment? What is the content of the Competition Council file and which are the accesible documents? Ce cuprinde dosarul de investigaie i care sunt documentele la care accesul este permis? Which are the non-accessible documents? (1) Care sunt documentele la care nu este permis accesul? (1) Which are the non-accessible documents? (2) Care sunt documentele la care nu este permis accesul?) (2) Could access to business secrets and confidential information be granted? Cnd este permis accesul la secrete de afaceri i informaii confideniale? How is confidentiality established? (1) 4 5 Cum se stabilete caracterul de confidenialitate al unei informaii?(1) How is confidentiality established? (2) Cum se stabilete caracterul de confidenialitate al unei informaii?(2) Which are the criteria on which access to confidential information is granted? Care sunt criteriile pe baza crora poate fi acordat accesul la informaii confideniale? How is the access to file provided? (1) Care este modalitatea de acces la dosar?(1) How is the access to file provided? (2) 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Care este modalitatea de acces la dosar?(2) What is the access to the file procedure in case the Competition Council intends to reject its complaint/intimation? Care este procedura de acces la dosar n cazul n care Consiliul Concurenei intenioneaz s resping plngerea/sesizarea? Which is the legislation on the access to the Competition Council file? Care este legislaia privind accesul la dosarul Consiliului Concurenei? 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

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How is the right of defense ensured in the Competition Councils investigations?

Before the Competition Council takes any decision, both in the cases regarding anticompetitive practices and economic concentration, it has to observe the right to defense of the undertakings and/or associations of undertakings involved. The main procedural guarantee of the right to defense is the hearing of the undertakings and of the associations of undertakings involved in the economic concentration or in the alleged anticompetitive practice. Experts assigned by the president of the Competition Council can participate in the hearing. Moreover, the author of the complaint or intimation as well as other natural or legal persons can also participate in the hearing provided that they request to participate in the hearing stating that they hold information relevant for the case and this request is approved by the president of the Competition Council;

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Cum se asigur dreptul la aprare n procedurile Consiliului Concurenei?

Luarea unei decizii de ctre Consiliul Concurenei, att n cazurile de practici anticoncureniale, ct i n cele care vizeaz concentrri economice se face cu respectarea dreptului la aprare al operatorilor economici i/sau al asociaiilor de operatori implicai. Principala modalitate prin care se asigur respectarea dreptului la aprare este audierea operatorilor economici i a asociaiilor de operatori economici participani la presupusa practic anticoncurenial sau concentrarea economica. Pot participa la audiere experii desemnai de preedintele Consiliului Concurenei, autorul plngerii sau sesizrii, acolo unde este cazul, precum i alte persoane fizice sau juridice care declar c dein informaii relevante pentru stabilirea adevrului n cauza investigat, la cerere i cu aprobarea prealabil a preedintelui Consiliului Concurenei.

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Why is the access to the Competition Council file important?

The right to defense cannot be effectively provided unless the principle of equality of arms is observed. This means that the undertakings indicted by the investigation report have to be allowed to formulate their defense making use of the same documents on which the investigation report relied upon. When observing the right to defense and the principle of equality of arms, account has to be taken on the need to protect the confidential information of third parties to the extent that the respective information is not of an obvious inculpatory or exculpatory nature.

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De ce este important asigurarea accesului la dosare?

Dreptul la aprare nu poate fi n mod real asigurat dect n condiiile respectrii principiului egalitii armelor, respectiv al garantrii dreptului operatorilor economici incriminai prin raportul de investigaie de a-i formula aprarea pe baza acelorai documente care au stat i la baza ntocmirii raportului de investigaie. Pentru respectarea dreptului la aprare i a principiului egalitii armelor se ine cont i de necesitatea protejrii informaiilor confideniale ale altor pri, n msura n care acestea nu au un evident caracter incriminatoriu sau dezincriminatoriu.

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Who can ask for the access to the file and in which moment?
Given its main purpose, to guarantee an effective right to defense, the possibility to access the file is ensured to all persons to which the investigation report has been submitted, respectively: the parties to the economic concentration or to the alleged anticompetitive practice; the experts appointed by the president of the Competition Council to participate in the hearing; the author of the complaint/intimation, other individuals or legal persons, should they request to participate in the hearing stating that they hold information relevant for the case and this request is approved by the president of the Competition Council; Access to the file is granted to those persons on a request basis, usually one time only, after the investigation report has been submitted.

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Cine poate solicita accesul la dosar i n ce moment?

Avnd n vedere principalul su scop, de garantare a unui drept real la aprare, posibilitatea de a avea acces la dosar este asigurat tuturor celor crora le-a fost transmis raportul de investigaie, respectiv: participanilor la presupusa practic anticoncurenial sau la concentrarea economic; experilor desemnai de preedintele Consiliului Concurenei pentru a participa la audieri; autorului plngerii sau sesizrii i altor persoane fizice sau juridice - n cazul n care solicit participarea la audieri declarnd c dein informaii relevante pentru stabilirea adevrului n cauza investigat iar aceast solicitare este aprobat de ctre preedintele Consiliului Concurenei; Accesul acestor persoane la dosar este asigurat la cerere, de regul o singur dat, ulterior primirii raportului de investigaie.

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What is the content of the Competition Council file and which are the accessible documents?
The investigation file includes all the documents and information that have been obtained, produced and/or gathered by the investigation team during the procedure, irrespective of their type. The investigation file does not include those documents or information gathered by the Competition Council during the investigation that have proved, following a more detailed examination, to be unrelated to the object of investigation. Access is granted to the documents included in the investigation file, including the studies commissioned in connection with proceedings. This way the undertakings and/or associations of undertakings that are part of an economic concentration or of an alleged anticompetitive practice are allowed to formulate their points of view to the conclusions of the investigation report.

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Ce cuprinde dosarul de investigaie i care sunt documentele la care accesul este permis?
Dosarul de investigaie cuprinde toate documentele i informaiile care au fost obinute, produse i/sau adunate de ctre echipa de investigaie n cadrul procedurii, indiferent de tipul acestora. Dosarul de investigaie nu va cuprinde acele documente sau informaii care au intrat n posesia Consiliului Concurenei n cursul investigaiei i care, ca urmare a unei analize mai detaliate, s-au dovedit a nu avea legtur cu obiectul investigaiei. Accesul se acord la documentele cuprinse n dosarul de investigaie, inclusiv la studiile comandate n legtur cu obiectul investigaie, astfel nct operatorii economici i/sau asociaiile de operatori economici participani la o operaiune de concentrare economic sau suspectai de o practic anticoncurenial s i poat formula punctele de vedere fa de concluziile raportului de investigaie.

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Which are the non-accessible documents? (1)

Generally, the following types of documents are non-accessible:
1. Competition Councils internal documents,* as those documents can be neither incriminating nor exculpatory. 2. Competition Councils correspondence with other public authorities, except for exceptional circumstances in which those documents are part of the evidence in the investigative process. Access to this type of documents can only be granted after deletion of any business secrets or other confidential information in consultation with the public entity submitting the documents; 3. Documents containing business secrets of other undertakings, such as: technical and/or financial information relating to an undertaking's know-how, methods of assessing costs, production secrets and processes, supply sources, quantities produced and sold, market shares, customers and distributors lists, marketing plans, cost and price structure and sales strategy.
* This type of documents is always non-accessible.
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Care sunt documentele la care nu este permis accesul?(1)

n principiu, nu se acord acces la urmtoarele categorii de documente: 1. 2. documentele interne ale Consiliului Concurenei*, ntruct acestea nu pot avea caracter incriminatoriu sau dezincriminatoriu. corespondena Consiliului Concurenei cu alte autoriti, cu excepia unor circumstane excepionale n care acestea constituie dovezi n cadrul investigaiei i numai dup nlturarea informaiilor confideniale sau care reprezint secrete de afaceri, cu acordul autoritii publice care a furnizat documentul; la cele coninnd secrete de afaceri ale altor ageni economici cum ar fi: informaii tehnice i/sau financiare legate de know-how-ul unui operator economic, metode de evaluare a costurilor, procese i secrete de producie, surse de aprovizionare, cantiti produse i vndute, cote de pia, liste de clieni i distribuitori, planuri de marketing, structura costurilor i a preurilor, strategia de vnzri.

3.

* La aceast categorie de documente nu se acord niciodat acces.

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Which are the non-accessible documents? (2)

4. the confidential information, other than business secrets, confidential, insofar as its disclosure would significantly harm a person or undertaking. This type of documents may include information provided by third parties about undertakings involved. 5. third parties objections to the investigation report. Access to this type of documents is only allowed in the case where the Competition Council intends to restart a certain part of the procedure by reason of new evidence.

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Care sunt documentele la care nu este permis accesul?(2)

4. la informaiile confideniale, altele dect secretele de afaceri, n msura n care dezvluirea acestora poate duna semnificativ unei persoane sau unui operator economic. Acestea pot fi informaiile transmise de teri despre operatorii economici implicai. 5. la observaiile altor pri fa de raportul de investigaie. Accesul la aceast categorie de documente este permis numai n cazul relurii unei pri a procedurii administrative cum este cazul n care Consiliul Concurenei intenioneaz s reia o parte a procedurii, datorit apariiei de noi probe.

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Could access to business secrets and confidential information be granted?

When the disclosure of documents containing business secrets or other confidential information is necessary to prove an alleged infringement or could be necessary to exonerate a party from certain responsibilities, access to such document may be provided. Access to documents containing business secrets or other confidential information will be granted documents containing business secrets or other confidential information to a non-confidential version of the document where the information is contained. Similar conditions apply to economic concentration cases.

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Cnd este permis accesul la secrete de afaceri i informaii confideniale?

Se poate permite accesul la documente coninnd secrete de afaceri sau alte informaii confideniale atunci cnd este necesar pentru a se dovedi o posibil practic anticoncurenial sau pentru a exonera prile implicate de o parte din responsabiliti. Accesul la documentele coninnd secrete de afaceri sau alte informaii confidentiale, se va acorda la o versiune neconfidenial a documentului ce conine informaia. Un tratament similar se aplic i n cazul operaiunilor de concentrare economic.

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How is confidentiality established? (1)

Confidentiality is granted by any person that transmits information or observations within an opened procedure or subsequently submits further information to the Competition Council. However, the confidentiality is subject to the approval by the Competition Council. Each person submitting information during a procedure of the Competition Council has the obligation to clearly identify any document or part of document that it considers confidential and to ask confidential treatment for it. Such request has to be motivated. A non-confidential version of the document has to be provided within the deadline set by the Competition Council. Within the non-confidential version, a concise description of each piece of deleted information must be included. The non-confidential versions and the descriptions of the deleted information must be established in a manner that enables any party with access to the file to determine whether the information deleted is likely to be relevant for its defense.

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Cum se stabilete caracterul de confidenialitate al unei informaii? (1)

Caracterul de secret comercial sau de informaie confidenial se stabilete de ctre orice persoan care transmite informaii sau observaii n cadrul unei proceduri declanate sau care furnizeaz ulterior informaii suplimentare Consiliului Concurentei, fiind ns condiionat de acceptul Consiliului Concurenei. Persoanele care transmit informaii n cadrul unei proceduri desfurate de Consiliul Concurenei au obligaia de a identifica n mod clar orice document sau parte a documentului care este considerat confidenial i de a solicita acordarea tratamentului confidenial pentru acestea, cu expunerea n scris a motivelor. Aceste persoane au obligaia de a prezenta o versiune neconfidenial a informaiilor prezentate ca fiind confideniale, ntr-un termen stabilit de Consiliul Concurenei. Versiunea neconfidenial trebuie s conin i o descriere concis a informaiilor nlturate, astfel nct s permit oricrei pri care are acces la dosar s determine dac informaia nlturat poate fi relevant pentru aprarea sa.

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How is confidentiality established? (2)

The Competition Council will protect the anonymity of the involved authors by providing access to a summary of information, where: - there is a risk that an undertaking is able to place economic or commercial pressure on its competitors or on its trading partners; - the undertaking adopts retaliatory measures against those, as a consequence of their collaboration in the investigation carried out by the Competition Council.

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Cum se stabilete caracterul de confidenialitate al unei informaii? (2)

Consiliul Concurenei va proteja identitatea autorilor participani, prin acordarea accesului la un rezumat al informaiilor, atunci cnd: - exist riscul ca un operator economic s exercite o presiune economic sau comercial asupra concurenilor sau partenerilor si; - adopt msuri represive mpotriva acestora, ca o consecin a colaborrii lor n investigaia desfurat.

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Which are the criteria on which access to confidential information is granted?

The qualification of a piece of information as confidential is not a ban to its disclosure if such information is necessary to prove the parties guilt or harmlessness. The Competition Council will assess whether the need to safeguard the rights of the defense of the parties through the provision of the widest possible access to the file may outweigh the concern to protect confidential information of other parties. This calls for an assessment of all relevant elements, particularly of: the relevance of the information in determining whether or not an infringement has been committed, and its probative value; whether the information is indispensable; the degree of sensitivity involved (to what extent would disclosure of the information harm the interests of the person or undertaking in question); the preliminary view of the seriousness of the alleged infringement.
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Care sunt criteriile pe baza crora poate fi acordat accesul la informaii confideniale?
Caracterul confidenial al unei informaii nu constituie n sine o interdicie de a permite accesul la o astfel de informaie dac aceasta este necesar pentru a dovedi vinovia sau nevinovia prilor. Consiliul Concurenei va aprecia dac necesitatea de a proteja dreptul la aprare al prilor prin intermediul asigurrii accesului la dosar, ntr-un mod ct mai larg posibil, poate depi ca importan preocuparea de a proteja informaiile confideniale ale altor pri. Analiza are n vedere evaluarea tuturor elementelor relevante, n special: msura n care informaia contribuie n mod determinant la stabilirea existenei sau inexistenei faptei ilegale i fora sa probant; msura n care informaia este indispensabil; gradul de sensibilitate a anumitor informaii (n ce masur dezvluirea acestor informaii aduce atingere intereselor persoanei sau ale agentului economic implicat); aprecierea preliminar a gravitii presupusei nclcri.
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How is the access to file provided? (1)

The access to the file is allowed, at the request of the interested party approved by the Competition Council, by examining the file at the Competition Council's premises and by allowing them to make copies, against a tariff, of the documents in paper or electronic form. Access is granted to evidence as contained in the Competition Council file. The Competition Council has no obligation to provide a translation of documents in the file in the case they were submitted in a foreign language.

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Care este modalitatea de acces la dosar? (1)

Accesul la dosar este permis la cererea prii interesate, aprobat de Consiliul Concurenei, prin examinarea dosarului la sediul su i prin efectuarea, contra cost, de copii ale documentelor pe suport hrtie sau n format electronic. Accesul la documente este acordat n forma n care acestea exist n dosar, Consiliul Concurenei nu are obligaia de a furniza traducerea documentelor din dosar, n cazul n care acestea sunt transmise ntr-o limb strin.

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How is the access to file provided? (2)

The persons to which the investigation report has been submitted, will receive, together with the agreement on access to file, a list of documents setting out the content of the Competition Council file. These persons may request the President of the Competition Council the access to the confidential documents, when they considers that these information are necessary for their defense.

Caution: The information obtained as a result of the access to the file may only be used within the judicial or administrative proceedings for the purpose the information was requested.

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Care este modalitatea de acces la dosar? (2)

Persoanele crora le-a fost transmis raportul de investigaie primesc ca anex, odat cu comunicarea acordului privind accesul la dosar i o list a documentelor ce fac parte din acesta. Aceste persoane pot solicita preedintelui Consiliului Concurenei accesul la documentele confideniale, atunci cnd consider c informaiile sunt necesare pentru formularea aprrii. Atenie: Informaiile obinute ca urmare a accesului la dosar pot fi folosite numai n cadrul procedurilor judiciare i administrative n scopul pentru care au fost solicitate.

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What is the access to the file procedure in case the Competition Council intends to reject its complaint/intimation?
The author of the complaint/intimation, once notified about the Competition Councils intention to reject its complaint, may ask for access to the documents on which the Competition Council based its preliminary analysis. Such access shall be granted one time only. No access will be provided to business secrets or to other confidential information obtained by the Competition Council during the procedure.

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Care este procedura de acces la dosar n cazul n care Consiliul Concurenei intenioneaz s resping plngerea sau sesizare?
n situaia n care autorul plngerii sau sesizrii care a fost informat de intenia Consiliului Concurenei de a-i respinge plngerea/sesizarea poate solicita accesul la documentele pe care Consiliul Concurenei i-a bazat analiza preliminar. Autorului plngerii sau sesizrii i se va acorda accesul la aceste documente o singur dat. Autorul plngerii sau sesizrii nu are drept de acces la secrete de afaceri sau la alte informaii confideniale pe care Consiliul Concurenei le-a obinut pe parcursul ntregii proceduri.

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Which is the legislation on the access to the Competition Council file?

Competition Law no. 21/1996, republished, as subsequently modified (Official Gazette no.742/16.08.2005); Guidelines on the rules for the access to the Competition Council file in cases pursuant to art.5 and 6 of Competition Law no.21/1996 and in the economic concentration cases, approved by Order of the President of the Competition Council no. 78/2006 (Official Gazette no.371 of 28.04.2006).

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Care este legislaia privind accesul la dosarul Consiliului Concurenei?

Legea concurenei nr. 21/1996, republicat, cu modificrile i completrile ulterioare (Monitorul Oficial nr.742/16.08.2005); Instruciunile privind regulile de acces la dosarul Consiliului Concurenei n cazurile referitoare la art. 5 i 6 din Legea concurenei nr. 21/1996 i n cazurile de concentrri economice, puse n aplicare prin Ordinul preedintelui Consiliului Concurenei nr. 78/2006 (Monitorul Oficial nr. 371/28.04.2006).

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This guide is of purely informative value. It should only be interpreted in the legislative context.

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Acest ghid este orientativ i se interpreteaz numai n contextul legislaiei n vigoare.

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