The EU Court of Justice holds that the Commission has the power to conduct on-the-spot searches in order to gather evidence without violating provisions of competition law (National Panasonic)

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF 26 JUNE 1980 National Panasonic (UK) Ltd ν Commission of the European Communities "Competition: investigations by the Commission" Case 136/79* 1. Although Article 11 of Regulation No 17 makes the exercise of the Commission's power to request information from an undertaking or association of undertakings subject to a two-stage procedure, the second stage of which, involving the adoption by the Commission of a decision which specifies what information is required, may only be initiated if the first stage, in which a request for information is sent, has been carried out without success, Article 14 of the same regulation on the "investigating" powers of the Commission contains nothing to