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Opt-out request

While in Step 3: Questionnaire, the Principal Addressee may send to the Commission a properly justified request to opt-out from the RFI. A member of the Commission's case team will review the request and will respond to it. The Principal Addressee will be notified by email. If the opt-out request is granted, the Principal Addressee is no longer under obligation to respond to the RFI.




Note
titleThe Commission's investigation powers

Regulation 1/2003 as well as the Merger Regulation empower the Commission to obtain all necessary information from undertakings and association of undertakings, and from persons controlling undertakings. In this respect, the Commission has the power to impose fines and periodic penalty payments for either the failure to supply information or the intentional or negligent submission of incorrect information. You will find further information in the legal basis of the addressed to your organisation.

Opt-Out Request Overview

Request to opt-out from the RFI

RFIs are sent in the context of a Commission investigation. If you believe that you are in no position to respond to a particular RFI, because, for instance, you are not active in the relevant market, you may ask to " opt out " providing a through justification for your request. You cannot request to be excluded from any all future RFIRFIs. Response to RFIs can be voluntary or compulsory meaning that noncompliance is sanctioned. You will find information specific to the RFI addressed to your company in the Legal Basis screen, the first screen that appears after accessing eRFI.

Info
The power to request information is an evidence gathering tool which can be deployed in behavioural investigations, merger cases and market studies. Response to RFIs can be voluntary or compulsory meaning that noncompliance is sanctioned. You will find information specific to the RFI addressed to your company in the legal basis page, the first screen that appears after accessing eRFI.

Request to Opt-out

  1. Click on "Opt-out" beside this icon Image Removedon the questionnaire header:, the following box will appear: "If you believe the questions of this RFI are not applicable to your organisation, you can request to the Commission to opt out. The case team will review and respond to your request as soon as possible. If accepted, you will be notified by email.", you will notice a red * asterisk, this indicates a justification must be entered before the "Request to opt out" button will become active. :

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2. Enter your justification for your request to opt out, this will activate the "request opt-out" button, Click on the "request opt-out" button

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3. The message "

As Principal Addressee, to send an opt-out request click on the 

Status
subtletrue
colourBlue
titleOpt out
 link in the header of Step 3: Questionnaire.

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In the dialogue box that will appear, substantiate your request and click

Status
colourBlue
titlerequest opt out
.

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After you complete your opt out request, an information box will appear at the top of the questionnaire: "You have a pending request to opt out"

will be visible at the top of your questionnaire

until you receive a response from the Commission

's case team.

The Commission's response

It is possible that your opt-out request gets rejected by the Commission. The Commission's response will be communicated to the Principal Addressee by email and if accepted, access to the RFI will be interrupted

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The European Commission Case team will be notified of your request to op-out, and you will receive a response via e-mail

.