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ARTICLE · 25 OCTOBER 2022

The Informal Guidance Notice: A Second Life?

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In October 2022, the Commission adopted a new Informal Guidance Notice ("Notice") for novel or unresolved questions in competition law.

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
Jose Rivas
Jose Rivas
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In October 2022, the Commission adopted a new Informal Guidance Notice ("Notice") for novel or unresolved questions in competition law.

The original Notice was adopted in 2003 at the same time as Regulation 1/2003, recital 38 of which allowed the Commission to issue guidance to businesses in cases that give rise to genuine uncertainty because they present novel or unresolved questions about the application of Article 101 or 102 TFEU. Although the informal guidance procedure has been around for 20 years, it was never utilised, and its revision is a welcome development aimed at incentivising the use of informal guidance letters by which the Commission can offer non-binding guidance in response to queries from undertakings. The Notice may have the result of allowing such guidance to be issued in more cases and provide some clarity to companies going forward.

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