Competition - General Court Cases To Follow

Deutsche Bahn (T-289/11 and T-290/11)

On 31 March 2011¹, the Commission carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of Deutsche Bahn AG and some of its subsidiaries because it believes that Deutsche Bahn AG may have breached Article 102 TFEU.

Actions were brought by Deutsche Bahn AG and its subsidiaries against the Commission's decision² authorising the surprise inspections in accordance with Article 20 of Regulation 1/2003. The applicants claims that the inspections infringe

1. their fundamental right to inviolability of their premises since the large-scale inspections took place without prior authorisation from a judicial authority;
2. their fundamental right to an effective legal remedy because of the lack of possibility of prior judicial review of the inspection decision;