Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1269/2013 of 5 December 2013 amending Regulation (EC) No 802/2004 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings Text with EEA relevance
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1269/2013of 5 December 2013amending Regulation (EC) No 802/2004 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings(Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area,Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (the EC Merger Regulation)OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1., and in particular Article 23(1) thereof,After consulting the Advisory Committee on concentrations,Whereas:(1)Commission Regulation (EC) No 802/2004Commission Regulation (EC) No 802/2004 of 21 April 2004 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (OJ L 133, 30.4.2004, p. 1). requires the use of standard forms for the notification of concentrations pursuant to Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 and reasoned submissions for the referral of concentrations to the Commission or to a Member State pursuant to Article 4(4) or (5) of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. Those forms are set out in the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 802/2004.(2)In order to simplify and expedite the examination of notifications and reasoned submissions, and in view of the experience gained with the standard forms for notifying concentrations and making reasoned submissions, the information requirements laid down in those forms should be updated, streamlined and reduced. At the same time, the forms should ensure that sufficient information is provided regarding the structure of the concentration and that the most important internal documents prepared by the undertakings concerned discussing the concentration are submitted.(3)In order to simplify and expedite the examination of concentrations that are unlikely to raise competition concerns, it is furthermore desirable to provide that a larger number of concentrations may be notified using the short form prescribed in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 802/2004.(4)The Commission should be able to specify and modify, from time to time, the format and the number of copies requested of submissions by notifying parties, other involved parties and third parties, taking into account developments in information and communication technology and the need to provide copies of certain documents to Member States. This applies in particular to notifications, reasoned submissions, comments in response to objections addressed by the Commission to notifying parties as well as to commitments offered by the undertakings concerned pursuant to Article 6(2) or Article 8(2) of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. Details of the number of copies and the format of information and documents to be provided should be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.(5)In order to enable the Commission to exchange views with competition authorities outside the European Economic Area regarding the examination of notified concentrations freely and in confidence, the right of access to the Commission’s file should not extend to correspondence between the Commission and those competition authorities.(6)It should be clarified that written proof of representatives’ authority to act is required where notifications are signed by authorised external representatives of persons or of undertakings. It should also be clarified that notifications must contain the information requested in the applicable forms set out in Annex I and II to Regulation (EC) No 802/2004. Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 802/2004 should be amended in order to refer to a repeal of the provisional decision rather than to an annulment. It should finally be clarified that the extension of the time limit for adoption of a decision pursuant to Article 8(1), (2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 provided for by the second sentence of Article 10(3) of that Regulation also applies where the undertakings concerned offer commitments pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 8(2) of that Regulation less than 55 working days after the initiation of proceedings but submit a modified version of the commitments 55 or more working days after the initiation of proceedings.(7)Regulation (EC) No 802/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
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