Notice of the Office on the Settlement

On 29 July 2023, the Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as "the Office") issued a Notice on the Settlement with the aim of accelerating administrative proceedings and simplifying certain procedural steps by applying for a reduction of a fine through a settlement pursuant to Article 22bb(2) of the Act on the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as "the Act").

Settlement means that the party to the administrative proceedings accepts the factual assessment and legal classification of the offense as formulated by the Office in its Statement of objections. For the acceptation the imposed fine is reduced by 10 to 20. When reducing the fine, the Office always takes into account the level of procedural savings achieved, in particular the complexity of the proceedings, their length, and the cooperation of the party to the proceeding within the settlement procedure. The administrative proceedings can thereafter be concluded earlier and a shorter decision issued, containing only a summary of the facts, their legal assessment, and a reference to the main evidence. For an offense consisting of the conclusion of a prohibited agreement pursuant to Article 22a(1)(b) of the Act committed in connection with the public procurement or awarding of a public contract or in connection with the conclusion of a public service contract for passenger transport, the settlement may also impose a ban on the performance of public contracts and the provision of public services in passenger transport, for a maximum period of one year.

In case of a settlement, it is also not expected that the participant would file an appeal against the decision or bring an administrative action. This generally results in significant savings in the Office's resources, which can be used to investigate other cases.

In addition to a detailed definition of the content of a settlement, the Office specifies in the Notice the cases in which the settlement may be reached, the conditions under which it may be implemented, and the manner in which the settlement may be requested and the settlement negotiations conducted. It also newly states that settlement may be reached even if not all participants in the same administrative proceedings make use of this option.