The Dutch competition authority (“ACM”) recently confirmed that the obligation to cooperate fully with an inspection/during a dawn raid is of utmost importance and of great relevance to companies under investigation.  On 10 December 2019, the ACM issued an infringement decision fining an unidentified company EUR 1.85 million for obstructing an ACM inspection.  This was on the basis that company employees deleted/destroyed potential evidence by deleting electronic chat and messaging services during the inspection.

The ACM’s decision is available here.