Introduction In its preliminary ruling of 14 January 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) clarified that the duration of an infringement in the case of bid rigging ends once the essential characteristics of the public tender are determined – which in practice likely means at the signing date of the contract between the winner of the bid (who participated in the bid rigging) and the contracting authority. As such, this decision sets clear time-limits to competition authorities’ enforcement powers when prosecuting bid-rigging cartels. The CJEU provided this guidance in response to a preliminary question from the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland. Facts leading to the preliminary question In April 2007, the Finnish national electricity transmission operator
The EU Court of Justice rules that the duration of an infringement in the case of bid-rigging ends once the essential characteristics of the public tender are determined (Eltel)
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