General Court of the European Union has ruled that companies under antitrust investigation can only recover very specific additional costs when inspections are carried out at the premises of the European Commission.
The case involved Red Bull GmbH and its subsidiaries, which were subject to a competition probe in 2023. After initial inspections at company offices, the Commission continued the review at its own premises in Brussels to examine a large volume of documents. During that phase, Red Bull incurred expenses including travel, accommodation, and legal fees, and later requested reimbursement.
The company argued that these were “additional costs” linked to the inspection being conducted away from its own offices. However, the Commission rejected part of the claim—specifically the reimbursement of lawyers’ fees—on the grounds that such costs would have been incurred regardless of where the inspection took place.
The General Court upheld that decision. It clarified that only costs strictly resulting from the inspection being moved to the Commission’s premises can be reimbursed. In other words, expenses must be directly caused by the change of location and not simply part of the normal costs of responding to an investigation.
In this case, the Court found that legal assistance had already been required during the on-site inspection and would likely have continued even if the process had remained at Red Bull’s premises. Therefore, the lawyers’ fees could not be considered “additional” in the legal sense.
The Court also noted that Red Bull had requested reimbursement of the full amount of legal fees without identifying which specific costs were uniquely linked to the Brussels phase of the inspection. This lack of distinction further weakened its claim.
The ruling provides important clarification for companies facing EU antitrust inspections. While firms may recover certain extra expenses caused by procedural arrangements, the threshold is narrow. Only costs that arise exclusively because of the inspection being conducted at the Commission’s premises—rather than the company’s own—are eligible.
