COMPETITION • FRENCH LAW • PROCEDURE
Where no practices capable of harming competition have been shown to exist, the Competition Authority may declare a lack of sufficient grounds for continuing the investigation. Thus, pleas which, in the context of the objection regarding the omission to define the relevant market, criticize the rapporteur’s proposal to dismiss the case for containing inaccuracies and errors as to the assessment of the economic context of the practices, arguing that the investigation was incomplete and ambiguous regarding the substitutability of the offer, are inadmissible insofar as only the decisions of the Competition Authority can be appealed. The fact that no objection relating to a specific issue was raised in an initial Statement of Objections does not amount to a proposal to declare a non-lieu. This proposal is communicated to the initiator of the referral and to the Government Commissioner who must, prior to the decision, be given the opportunity to consult the file and submit their observations. They have two months to do so. The decision to dismiss the case is notified to the referring party, to the persons whose actions have been examined by the rapporteur, and to the Minister of the Economy (Commercial Code, Art. R. 464-8, 3º).
