The EU Court of Justice confirms a decision of the General Court which dismissed a company’s request for the suspension of an investigation of documents marked as legally privileged (Alcodis / Alcogroup)

On 17 October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") dismissed an appeal by ethanol company Alcogroup and its subsidiary Alcodis (collectivey "Alcogroup") against a ruling of the General Court ("GC") which had dismissed the company's request for the suspension of the European Commission's ("Commission") investigation and the annulment of an inspection decision after the inspectors examined documents marked as legally privileged. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - KEY TAKEAWAYS It is important to watch out for privileged documents during inspections and ensure (without obstructing the inspection) that these are protected as quickly as possible. Procedural issues during an inspection do not invalidate the decision to initiate the inspection. Procedural steps during an investigation