Die Prioritätensetzung der Europäischen Kommission beim Aufgreifen kartellrechtlicher Fälle

The European Commission has wide discretion in granting priority to individual cases as it can decide whether to target a case and initiate proceedings or not. This power to grant priority to an individual case plays an important role as it has a crucial impact on the application of European antitrust law. What defines good prioritisation criteria? What are the cases the Commission grants priority to? In this study, the author examines these questions by analysing the Commission’s decisions to reject formal complaints (rejection decisions). On the basis of these decisions, the author draws conclusions as to how the Commission grants priority to individual cases. He assesses these findings on the basis of certain criteria and, inter alia, shows that the Commission neglects its role as a pioneer at times. Moreover, he points out that its handling of complaints could be more efficient.