Complaint

Note: a description about Complaint is also available in the Competition Law Portal of the European Encyclopedia of Law.

Complaint in the European Antitrust Law

Meaning of Complaint provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (European Commission. Directorate-General for Competition. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, cop. 2002): Request by a natural or legal person who claims a legitimate interest, asking the Commission to investigate an alleged infringement of EU competition law and to bring it to an end. Formal complaints oblige the Commission to act (either to find that there is an infringement or to reject the complaint) and give the complainant certain procedural rights. These include the right to be heard and — in proceedings under () Regulation No 17 — access to the Commission's file (albeit limited compared with parties subject to an investigation). Informal complaints (where a complainant refuses disclosure of the information he provides) or anonymous complaints may lead the Commission to open a case, but confer no rights on the complainant.