Best Practices on the conduct of cartel and abuse proceedings (Guidelines)

The sanctioned European cartel and abuse procedure must be viewed critically from a constitutional point of view – it leaves the Commission holding all the strings. It has the role of the investigation authority, the prosecution authority and of the judge. The bundling of investigative and decision-making powers in the Commission and the lack of legal control continue to be questionable. Moreover, binding rules are needed for the right of undertakings to refuse to provide self-incriminating information and for the legal professional privilege (“LPP“) protecting the correspondence between companies and their lawyers.