The provisions on obstruction are crucial in ensuring the effectiveness of the Autorité’s investigative and fact-finding powers. The company under investigation is therefore subject to an obligation of active and good-faith cooperation, which implies in particular that it responds to requests for information sent by the Autorité and that it does not obstruct the smooth conduct of the investigation, for example by breaking seals, failing to respond or providing incorrect or incomplete information, or by interfering with emails during visits and dawn raids. If this is not the case, the company may face penalties that can be substantial.
In July 2021, the Autorité imposed a fine of €5,000 on Nixon, a company active in the watch sector, for failing, over a 5-month period, to respond to a request for information sent in the framework of assistance to the Greek competition authority.
While this company argued it had undergone restructuring measures, this situation alone can in no event justify a complete failure to respond (Decision 21-D-16 of 9 July 2021).
Furthermore, in December 2021, the Autorité also fined Mayotte Channel Gateway (MCG), which manages and operates the port of Longoni in Mayotte, and its parent company (Société Nel Import Export) in the amount of €100,000 for a similar behaviour, which involved failing to respond to requests for information from the investigation services. The latter had sent a questionnaire to MCG and despite several reminders, two extensions of the deadline for responses and a double reminder of the penalties incurred in the event of failure to respond, the companies had not provided the Autorité with any response whatsoever, ten months after the questionnaire was sent (Decision 21-D-28 of 9 December 2021).
Finally, in May 2021, the Autorité fined the Fleury Michon group €100,000 for obstructing the investigation in the cold meats cartel case, which had resulted in a fine of €93 million being handed out in July 2020. During the investigation, it was revealed that the group had not informed the investigation services of the change in its corporate structure, even though an internal restructuring operation had led to the delisting of Fleury Michon Charcuterie. The Fleury Michon group not only failed to report this transaction to the investigation services, but also actively misled them after the statement of objections was sent, with its lawyers filing documents in the name and on behalf of Fleury Michon Charcuterie, even though the company no longer existed. Finally, the Fleury Michon group attempted to further profit from its own misconduct by arguing, during the proceedings that resulted in the decision fining the cartel, that Fleury Michon LS (the company having absorbed Fleury Michon Charcuterie) should be exonerated from the case because it had not personally received the statement of objections (Decision 21-D-10 of 3 May 2021).