Dawn Raid Analysis Quarterly

White & Case Dawn Raid Analysis Quarterly (DRAQ) is an information resource on surprise on-the-spot inspections (dawn raids) across Europe. Here we will guide you through the latest updates and legal developments.

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The White & Case Dawn Raid Analysis Quarterly (DRAQ) is an information and discussion resource regarding surprise on-the-spot inspections by antitrust authorities (dawn raids) across Europe. DRAQ provides updates on recent case law, enforcement activity and trends.

Q2 2023: At a glance

European competition regulators carried out in Q2 2023 a total of 14 dawn raids. This number is slightly higher than the number of dawn raids carried out in Q2 2022 and Q2 2021 (12 for each period). The main enforcers for Q2 2023 have been Greece (with three dawn raids), and Spain, Italy and the EU (with two dawn raids each).

The sectors most hit during Q2 2023 have been consumer goods (four dawn raids) and energy (three dawn raids). While consumer goods is a sector that has been consistently targeted by the competition authorities over the years (eight dawn raids in 2022 and six dawn raids in 2021), the energy sector has seen an increase in dawn raid activity quite recently, with five inspections carried out in the sector between January 2023 and June 2023 by the competition authorities of Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain.

Noteworthy for this Q2: The dawn raids of the European Commission in the fashion industry (April 2023) and in the synthetic turf industry (June 2023).

Looking, conclusively, at the dawn raids carried out by European competition authorities in the first half of 2023 (between January and June), the numbers are broadly in line with figures for 2022: A total of 27 inspections were conducted until June 2023 since the beginning of the year, whereas the number of inspections that occurred in the same period in 2022 amounted to 30.

We provide more statistics below on the number of raids, the sectors impacted, including a country-by-country list, available through our Interactive Dawn Raid map.