Judgment of the Court of 21 January 2021, Whiteland Import Export, C-308/19

• Date: 21 January 2021
• Year: 2021

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V. COMPETITION

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 21 January 2021

Case C-308/19

Whiteland Import Export

Reference fo r a preliminary rulin g – Competition – Penalties imposed by the national competition

authority – Limitation period – Actions interrupting the limitation period – National legislation precluding,

after the initiation of an investigation, the possibility that subsequent action for the purpose of

proceedings or investigation may interrupt the new limitation period – Principle that national law must be

interpreted in conformity with EU law – Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 – Article 25(3) – Scope – Article 4(3)

TEU – Article 101 TFEU – Principle of effectiveness

On 7 September 2009, the Consiliul Concurenţei (Competition Authority, Romania) commenced an

investigation on the retail food market against several undertakings, including Whiteland Import

Export SRL (‘Whiteland’), in order to ascertain whether those undertakings had infringed the rules of

competition law, in particular those laid down in Article 101 TFEU. The undertakings were accused of

having concluded anticompetitive agreements between 2006 and 2009 aimed at distorting and

impeding competition on the relevant market, by fixing the selling and resale price of the suppliers’

products. By decision of 14 April 2015, the Competition Authority imposed fines on them.

Finding that, under the national rules applicable, the limitation period had expired when the

Competition Authority adopted its decision, the Curtea de Apel București (Court of Appeal, Bucharest,

Romania), he aring an action brought by Whiteland, annulled that decision in so far as it concerned

that company. After finding that the limitation period had started to run on 15 July 2009, the date on

which the infringement of which Whiteland was accused had ended, that court held that the decision

of 7 September 2009 to initiate the investigation had interrupted the limitation period and caused a

new limitation period to start to run, expiring on 7 September 2014. It stated that, under a strict

interpretation of the national rules governing limitation periods, the measures taken by the

Competition Authority after the decision to initiate the investigation were not capable of interrupting

the new limitation period and, therefore, that decision is the last action of that authority which is

capable of interrupting that period. In addition, that same court held that Article 25(3) of Regulation

No1/2003,

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concerning the interruption of the limitation period, applied only to the European

Commission and did not govern limitation periods for the imposition of fines by national competition

authorities

It is in that context that the Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție (High Court of Cassation and Justice,

Romania, ‘the referring court’), hearin g an appeal brought by the Competition Authority against the

judgment of the Curtea de Apel București (Court of Appeal, Bucharest), asked the Court of Justice, in

essence, whether national courts are required to apply Article 25(3) of Regulation No 1/2003 to the

time-barring of a national competition authority’s powers to impose penalties for infringements of EU

competition law. The referring court also requested the Court of Justice to clarify, in essence, whether

Article 4(3) TEU and Article 101 TFEU, read in the light of the principle of effectiveness, must be

interpreted as precluding national legislation, as interpreted by the national courts having jurisdiction,

according to which the decision to initiate an investigation, adopted by the national competition

authority, concerning an infringement of EU competition law rules, is the final action of that authority

which may have the effect of interrupting the limitation period relating to its power to impose

penalties and excludes any subsequent action, for the purpose of proceedings or the investigation,

from interrupting that period.

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Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles [101 and

102 TFEU] (OJ 2003 L 1, p. 1).