ANTITRUST | The CJEU on the time limit of the proceedings before the ICA

On 15 January 2026, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) issued its judgment (Judgment) on Case C-588/24 (Imballaggi Piemontesi S.r.l. v Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato and others), concerning the request for preliminary ruling raised by the Italian Administrative Judge of Second Instance with order No. 7243/2024 on the time limit of the investigative phase of the proceedings before the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) aimed at ascertain an antitrust infringement. With the Judgment, the CJEU ruled that, in compliance with the principles of good administration and effectiveness of European Law, Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union allowed the national legislator to avoid specifying that the deadline for concluding the investigative phase of the proceedings in question, as set by the Authority in the statement of objections, was peremptory in nature. Consequently, according to the CJEU, the ICA might unilaterally defer such deadline, by means of reasoned decisions subject to judicial review in case of supervening investigative needs and in so far as such deferral was not unreasonable.

Newsletter n. 115 – February 2026