European Competition Law provides a wide-ranging review of the European rules relating to competition: restrictive agreements, abuse of a dominant position, impact of intellectual property rights, procedure, merger control, State aid.

European Competition Law

The starting point of the time-limit for bringing proceedings set forth in Article 263(5) TFEU is, as a principal matter, that of publication  or notification of the act, and, as a subsidiary matter, that of the date on which it came to the applicant's knowledge . However, in a landmark decision, the Court of Justice has recalled that the time limit for bringing an action for annulment against a decision which closes the formal examination procedure runs from the date of publication of the decision in the Official Journal, which takes precedence over the date on which knowledge of the decision was acquired, which constitutes a subsidiary criterion for the start of the time limit for bringing an action .

The publication for information on the internet, provided for in Article 10 of Regulation No 794/2004 is valid as publication as regards the starting point of the time-limit . The applicant who learned of a decision of incompatibility of a State aid prior to its publication benefits however from a time-limit for bringing proceedings of two months from the publication . The EU institutions are not required to inform the parties of existing remedies or of time-limits for exercising them. At the end of that period, the decision is final and can no longer be contested .

The publication may be that of a brief notice setting out the adoption of the decision, Case T-327/04 SNIV v Commission [2008] ECR II-72.

Case T-11/95 BP Chemicals v Commission [1996] ECR II-599, LawLex200500005184JBJ; Case T-110/97 Kneissl Dachstein v Commission [1999] ECR II-2881, LawLex200500005237JBJ; Case T-123/97 Salomon v Commission [1999] ECR II-2925, LawLex200500005236JBJ.

Case C-790/21 P Covestro Deutschland AG et République fédérale d’Allemagne, Judgment of 26 septembre 2024, LawLex202400008134JBJ.

This time-limit will be increased by ten and fourteen days pursuant to Article 102(1) and (2) of the Procedural Regulation of the Court of First Instance, Case T-17/02 Olsen v Commission [2005] ECR II-2031, LawLex200600001242JBJ; Case T-375/03 Fachvereinigung Mineralfaserindustrie v Commission [2007] ECR II-121.

Case T-190/00 Regione Siciliana v Commission [2003] ECR II-5015, LawLex200500004872JBJ.

See, already, Case 156/77 Commission v Belgium [1978] ECR 1881, LawLex200500005344JBJ; Case 93/84 Commission v France [1985] ECR 829, LawLex200500005389JBJ, however, the expiration of the time-limits for action against the decision to initiate proceedings which classified the measure as new aid, does not prevent from contesting that classification in the course of proceedings against the final decision, Case T-190/00 Regione Siciliana v Commission [2003] ECR II-5015, LawLex200500004872JBJ.

448. Deadline for initiating proceedings