GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anna Manda and Maria Kallidopoulou, Karatzas & Partners
resisted/challenged before the administrative court. In the event of refusal, obstruction or delay in providing the information requested, or in the event of refusal to provide oral clarifications, or in the event of the provision of inaccurate, mis - leading or incomplete information, the HCC may: • impose on the undertaking concerned a daily fine for non-compliance, which is defined proportionally to the average daily total world turnover of the undertaking, capped at 3% of turnover; and • impose on the undertaking’s employees a fine ranging from EUR15,000 to EUR30,000 per day of non-compliance. In the case of civil servants or in the case of employees of public-law legal entities or local or regional authorities, the HCC may file an official report, so that disciplinary action can be taken. Dawn Raids For any undertaking or natural person obstruct - ing or hampering HCC investigations, the HCC may impose a daily fine for non-compliance. Specifically: • with regard to the relevant undertaking, the fine is defined proportionally to its average total global turnover, capped at 3% of turno - ver; • concerning the undertaking’s employees, the fine ranges from EUR5,000 to EUR2 million; • regarding any other natural person (apart from the employees), the fine ranges from EUR15,000 to EUR2 million; and • where the infringement is committed by an association of undertakings, the fine may be up to 10% of the total global turnover of its members who were active in the market in
which the infringement occurred in the year preceding the issuance of the HCC decision. The obstruction or hampering of HCC investiga - tions, refusal to provide the requested informa - tion, and the provision of inaccurate information constitute criminal offences punishable with imprisonment of at least six months. In this context, the HCC imposed a fine of EUR50,000 on a natural person and a fine of EUR9.2 million on the relevant undertaking for obstructing the on-site inspection (HCC Decision MOTOR OIL HELLAS CORINTH REFINERIES SA 835/2023). Another significant fine imposed by the HCC was EUR1 million on a natural person and EUR 200,000 on the relevant undertaking for obstructing the on-site inspection and for hindering evidence by, inter alia, deleting emails during a dawn raid (HCC Decision ALTER EGO MEDIA SA 745/2021). 2.8 Protection of Confidential/Proprietary Information The undertakings concerned can protect their confidential information from being widely dis - closed and request redaction from the HCC deci - sion of any business-sensitive information (such as financial and market share data, production secrets, or supply sources) or other information that could, for example, enable the identification of third parties that wish to remain anonymous. Confidential information is protected irrespec - tive of whether such information was provided under a compulsory legal procedure or informal co-operation. 2.9 Arguments Against Enforcement Actions After the rapporteur issues the statement of objections, the parties are granted access to the non-confidential information of the HCC file
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