ZWeR 2017, 146
Document requests in complex EU merger cases
The European Commission increasingly requests large document volumes in complex merger control cases. At the same time, the practice of the Commission in relation to such document requests can vary and appears to still be evolving. This article analyses more closely the Commission’s practice with regard to the scope and content of merger-related document requests as well as its approach to legal professional privilege and privilege logs. Where appropriate, comparisons are drawn with the US system, which is traditionally more “document-focused”, in particular in Second Request investigations.
Contents
- I. Introduction
- II. Document requirements in complex EU merger control cases
- 1. Legal basis for Document Requests
- 2. Substantive scope of Document Requests under the EUMR
- 3. Content of Document Requests based on Commission practice
- 3.1 Definitions and scope
- 3.2 Documents to be provided
- 3.3 Instructions for the production of documents
- 3.4 Requirements not commonly included in recent Document Requests
- III. Legal professional privilege in EU merger control
- 1. Correspondence between client and external lawyer
- 2. Correspondence with economists
- 3. Legal advice unrelated to competition proceedings
- 4. Legal advice from non-EU qualified lawyers
- IV. Privilege logs
- V. Conclusions
- *
- *)Dr. iur., Principal Associate, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Brussels. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Freshfields’ position. The author would like to thank Jennifer Mellott and Justin Stewart-Teitelbaum (both Senior Associates in the Freshfields Washington, D.C., office) for their valuable comments from a US perspective.
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