Procedura denunţării şi a recunoaşterii unor fapte sau practici anticoncurenţiale, în vederea negocierii unei sancţiuni mai blânde
The leniency policy and the settlement procedure within competition law in order to negotiate a certain fine amount

Summary/Abstract: The leniency policy is different from the settlement procedure. Conceptually but also in terms of conditions and effects, these paths are different. The most common feature of the two remains, however, the denounce. Competition law awards the informant with a more favorable legal treatment in terms of the amount of the imposed fine, up to the total exemption of fines. It is inappropriate to affirm that parties can negotiate with the competition authority a milder sanction, irrespective of the envisaged procedure. The declared purpose of the regulations - European and national - is to deny any idea of bargaining plea. There is no reason though to exclude the "shadow" negotiation of the imposed fine’s amount, inclusively through cryptic drafting of press releases and sanctioning decisions. Both procedures are too complicated and unpredictable. Legal assistance during the discussions can prove not only useful but indispensable to the companies involved. There are no "guarantees" regarding the exemption or reduction of the fine for the undertaking that decides to denounce or acknowledge an anti-competitive act, but abusive conduct of the authority is punishable by law. Providing a favorable treatment to the undertaking that decides to settle is assimilable to a contract, a transaction. As a conduct contrary to good faith in the negotiation of a „regular” contract engages the responsibility of the reprehensible party, the negotiation of an "agreement" for the recognition of guilt without the authority’s intention to act, as far as it is proved, engages the responsibility of the authority and the persons involved. The balance of a fair choice also involves a cost analysis for future disputes in which an enterprise might be involved. The classical procedure of investigation may be a delay for compensatory actions, a remedy available to consumers since the 2014/104 / EU Directive of 26 November 2014, respectively the Ordinance no. 39/2017.

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