The Czech Supreme Court has rejected the complaint filed by the energy group CEZ against the rulings of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Regional Court in Brno. These rulings confirmed the legitimacy of a local investigation conducted by the Czech Competition Authority (ÚOHS) at CEZ's headquarters in September 2024. The court deemed CEZ's complaint to be evidently unfounded, reinforcing the authority's approach in similar cases.

According to the Supreme Court, the verification of the credibility of reports cannot be confused with proving an antitrust violation in subsequent administrative proceedings. The local investigations by ÚOHS are considered a significant tool for protecting competition in the Czech Republic. To maintain their purpose, it is essential that ÚOHS is not subjected to unreasonable demands when assessing the reasons for an investigation.

The purpose of a local investigation is to gather necessary evidence and documentation to verify suspicions and potentially prove an antitrust violation in subsequent proceedings. A significantly higher standard of evidence is only required when proving the violation itself.

The court also stated that ÚOHS can investigate past situations during local investigations and is not limited to the moment indicated by the reports currently being addressed. Anticompetitive behavior may have a lasting nature or may have been prepared over a longer period in the past. The indications justifying a local investigation may not always relate to a specific moment.

In this case, ÚOHS suspected CEZ and two other companies of a possible cartel agreement based on three anonymous reports and information from publicly available sources. The authority also initiated administrative proceedings against the companies, which were halted in April of this year due to insufficient evidence to prove the existence of any agreements.