Confirmatory deadline missed; decision still pending
The Secretariat-General has admitted that the confirmatory time-limit of 17 August 2026 has been surpassed. It says it is not yet in a position to provide a final position. No new formal deadline was set.
Sequence
- 27 July 2026, 21:25 CEST: confirmatory application filed against DG COMP’s full refusal.
- 27 July 2026, 21:40 CEST: Secretariat-General registers it and sets the 15-working-day time-limit for 17 August 2026.
- 17 August 2026: stated time-limit expires without a decision or an Article 8(2) extension notice.
- 27 August 2026: applicant chases the overdue decision.
- 28 August 2026, 13:50 CEST: SG.A2 admits the delay and says consultations, including the Legal Service, are still ongoing.
What the Commission said
SG.A2 wrote that confirmatory answers are formal Commission decisions. The internal process involves consulting several services, including the Legal Service, after which a decision may be formally adopted within the Secretariat-General. It said analysis and those consultations are still ongoing and that a final reply will be provided “as soon as possible.”
The email does not cite Article 8(2) of Regulation 1049/2001. It does not restart a new 15-working-day clock. It is not the confirmatory decision.
Facts established by this correspondence
- The confirmatory application was registered on 27 July 2026.
- The Commission itself set 17 August 2026 as the time-limit.
- That time-limit has been surpassed.
- No final confirmatory position has been adopted yet.
- No new formal deadline has been communicated.
What it does not establish
- That the Commission will uphold or overturn DG COMP’s refusal.
- That Legal Service consultation implies a particular outcome.
- That a formal extension under Article 8(2) has been granted.
Applicant chase — 27 August 2026
Dear Sir or Madam,
I refer to my confirmatory application of 27 July 2026 in case EASE 2026/2983, which you registered on 27 July 2026.
In your acknowledgement of the same date, you stated that the confirmatory request would be handled within 15 working days and that the time-limit expires on 17 August 2026. You also stated that you would inform me if that time-limit needed to be extended by an additional 15 working days.
I have not received a confirmatory decision, nor any notice of extension.
I would be grateful if you would send the confirmatory decision without further delay, or confirm whether an extension was issued.
Yours faithfully,
Sebastian Beyer
Commission reply — 28 August 2026
Dear Mr Beyer,
We refer to your correspondence of 28 August 2026, in which you inquire about the status of your confirmatory application in case EASE 2026/2983.
The processing of your confirmatory request has indeed surpassed the initial deadline for reply, which expired on 17 August 2026, and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience which might have been caused by this delay.
Unfortunately, we are not yet in a position to provide you with our final position. Please note that the answers to confirmatory applications are formal Commission decisions. The internal decision-making process involves the consultation of several services, including of the Legal Service, after which a decision may be formally adopted within the Secretariat-General.
At present, the analysis of your confirmatory application and the necessary internal consultations are still ongoing. We are doing our utmost to finalise the assessment and to provide you with a final reply as soon as possible.
We can assure you that your application has our fullest attention and we apologise once again for this delay.
Yours sincerely,
SG.A2 - Document Management and Access to Documents
Text reproduced from the Commission email and the applicant’s chase as filed in the case record. No private postal address is published. The Commission email refers to the chase as dated 28 August 2026; the case file records transmission on 27 August 2026.
What happens next
The confirmatory decision is still awaited. Under Article 8(3) of Regulation 1049/2001, failure to reply within the prescribed time-limit entitles the applicant to complain to the European Ombudsman and/or bring court proceedings. That option exists because of the missed deadline; it is separate from waiting for the eventual decision on the merits.