Is the protection of leniency statements under the disclosure rules of Directive 2014/104/EU in line with the fair trail principle of Article 47(2) CFR / Article 6 ECHR and the case law developed by the CJEU in Pfleiderer and Donau Chemie? Should it be seen rather as a policy tool than giving undertakings actual comfort from litigation and, finally, may there be an over-reliance on the need to protect leniency applicants in such a strict way, in particular when it comes to policy considerations for uncovering operational cartels? The following discusses these queries.
