The European Commission seeks stakeholder input on reforms of EU antitrust procedural rules

On 10 July 2025, the European Commission (the “Commission”) launched a call for evidence and a public consultation seeking input from companies, legal practitioners, economists, national authorities and other stakeholders on proposed reforms to the EU’s competition law enforcement framework. The consultation focuses on updating Regulations 1/2003 and 773/2004 to better address digital economy challenges. Stakeholders have until 2 October 2025 to submit their feedback.

Background

The consultation focuses on potential revisions to Regulation 1/2003 and Regulation 773/2004 (together the “Regulations”), which have governed EU competition law enforcement for the past two decades. These Regulations establish the procedural framework for implementing Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), prohibiting anti-competitive agreements and abusive conduct by dominant companies respectively.

Following a comprehensive evaluation completed in September 2024, the Commission published a Staff Working Document summarising its findings. The Commission has identified several areas where stakeholder input is particularly requested. The evaluation confirmed that whilst the Regulations have been successful in achieving effective, efficient and uniform competition law enforcement, certain provisions have not kept pace with the challenges of the digital economy. These include the need for faster investigations and the adaptation of the Commission’s enforcement tools to address transformative changes such as digitalisation.

Consultation process

The consultation highlights five priority areas for potential reform:

• Enhancing investigative powers for the digital age: the Commission is considering granting itself authority to require companies to preserve both digital and physical information, conduct remote inspections without entering company premises, and compel individuals to participate in mandatory interviews.
• Streamlining decision-making procedures: the current procedures for imposing interim measures and accepting commitments are under review to facilitate faster and more effective enforcement. The Commission is considering lowering the legal threshold for imposing interim measures, and to introduce deadlines for parties to offer commitments addressing competition concerns.
• Reform of access to file rules: The Commission considers the current process for granting access to case files overly burdensome, particularly given the volume of digital documents and the requirement to prepare non-confidential versions. To reduce this administrative load, it is assessing two options: (1) providing addressees of a statement of objections with only non-confidential versions of referenced documents, while permitting a limited number of external advisers to review the full file under confidentiality; or (2) granting external counsel exclusive access to the complete file in secure data rooms, thereby removing the need for redacted versions.
• Simplifying procedures for complaints: The Commission believes the current complaint-handling procedure is overly complex and resource-intensive. It is considering either abolishing the complainant’s right to receive a reasoned rejection decision or harmonising the procedural rights of complainants and other third parties.
• Strengthened coordination with national competition authorities: as Member States are allowed to apply stricter national laws on unilateral conduct, the Commission perceives a risk of divergence on the interpretation of Article 102 TFEU, that prohibits abuse of a dominant position, at Member State level. To address the risk of fragmentation, the Commission is exploring whether coordination mechanisms under Regulation 1/2003 should be extended to cover stricter national laws on unilateral conduct. While Member States retain the right to apply such rules, the Commission seeks to ensure more consistent enforcement across the EU.

Timeline

Following the 12-week consultation period, ending on 2 October 2025, the Commission aims to adopt a draft legislative proposal to revise the Regulations and to publish an accompanying Impact Assessment Report by September 2026.

Concluding remarks

It should be borne in mind that the Commission’s enforcement procedures have faced significant scrutiny in recent years, resulting in the EU Courts e.g. annulling fines and declaring dawn raid decisions unlawful. Consequently, procedural rules play a crucial role in the competition defence of companies accused of breaching EU competition law. The Commission’s proposed reforms represent a legitimate response to the challenges posed by digitalisation and increasingly complex investigations. However, certain proposals, such as expanded investigatory powers and revised access-to-file procedures, raise concerns about the adequacy of procedural safeguards. Efforts to improve enforcement efficiency must not come at the expense of the rights of defence. As the reform process advances, it is essential that new powers be balanced with strong protections for legal certainty and procedural fairness and that they take into account both the rights of complainants and companies under investigation.