ANTITRUST | The Administrative Court on the competition authority’s dismissal orders

On 6 October 2025, with judgement No. 17069 (Judgment), the Italian Administrative Court of First Instance of Lazio (TAR Lazio) rejected the complaint filed by an Italian Association (Complainant) against the Italian Competition Authority (ICA or Authority)’s decision (Decision) where the ICA had dismissed the request filed by the Complainant to open an investigation against alleged deceptive commercial practices (the Request) due to the lack of robust evidence supporting the Request. With the Judgment, TAR Lazio rejected the Complainant’s claims. In particular, it emphasized that the dismissal of a Request such as the one at issue was not absolute and indefinite, implying that, even after a dismissal, the Authority still retained the power to eventually intervene on the same matter in the future based on more robust evidence. Furthermore, TAR Lazio outlined the broad discretion the ICA had on prioritizing and evaluating the reports brought to its attention. In this regard, it clarified that the Autority had no obligation to initiate proceedings or to conclude the proceedings in accordance with the report filed by consumers, especially if they were not conclusive about the existence of an infringement.

Newsletter n. 111 – October 2025