The Chairperson, the members, the deputy members of the Commission, as well as the persons working at the Commission, the members of the Service and other public servants that take knowledge of business secrets and/or confidential information, due to their position or on the basis of their duties, are under a duty to ensure confidentiality and they are obliged not to communicate or publish those information except where it is necessary:
(a) to prove infringement of sections 3 and/or 6 of the Protection of Competition Law of 2022 and/or article 101 and/or 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU);
(b) for the application of the provisions of the Protection of Competition Law of 2022;
(c) for the purposes of compliance with a decision of a competent Court.
Any other legal entity or individual that comes across of such information for the purposes of the application of the Law has the same obligation. Infringement of this obligation constitutes a disciplinary offence punishable in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Law.
Pursuant the Section 41 of 13(I)/2022 Law, when the complainant or any other person provides information to the Commission, all the documents, statements and any other material that are considered to be business secrets or confidential information must be defined through a reasoned statement. Also, a separate non-confidential version that includes a substantial brief summary of each deleted passage must be provided.
Information, documents and parts of documents for which a reasoned declaration of business secrets and/or information of a confidential nature or a separate non-confidential version has not been submitted shall not be considered business or confidential information, unless the Commission decides otherwise. It is noted that, at its discretion, the Commission may classify additional information, documents and parts of documents as business secrets or information of a confidential nature.
On the 25/5/2022, the Commission issued a Notice to provide guidance on issues related to the characterization and treatment of business secrets and confidential information, as well as to provide information on the meaning of business secrets and/or information of a confidential nature and their treatment (protection)
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