Antitrust: Commission welcomes General Court judgment confirming its inspection powers in the area of electronic searches

The European Commission welcomes the judgment of the EU General Court (case T-272/12), dismissing an appeal by Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH) and its subsidiary EP Investment Advisors (EPIA) against a €2.5 million fine the Commission imposed on them in 2012. EPH and EPIA were fined for obstructing a Commission inspection in an antitrust investigation, by failing to block an email account and diverting incoming emails. The judgment sends a clear message to companies that any steps that undermine the integrity and effectiveness of inspections, including tampering with data stored electronically, are illegal and will be sanctioned.

The Court confirmed that the Commission was right to consider both the failure to block an e-mail account and the diversion of incoming emails as serious breaches of EPH and EPIA's obligation to cooperate with the Commission during the inspection. In line with previous case law (cases T-141/08 and C-89/11P), the Court held that these two incidents constitute an obstruction in themselves; the Commission does not need to show that any document was actually removed or manipulated.

The Commission welcomes the Court's findings, because obstructions of inspections can severely undermine competition enforcement. The judgment makes clear that the Commission is entitled to impose appropriate and deterrent sanctions for companies' conduct that may result in destroying evidence of antitrust infringements, irrespective of whether it is stored in paper or electronic form.

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