(1) In proceedings before the competition authority, costs (fees and expenses) shall be imposed to cover administrative expenses. As individually attributable public services, the following acts are subject to fees (acts subject to fees):
1. notifications pursuant to Section 31a(1) and Section 39(1); with regard to concentrations referred to the Bundeskartellamt by the European Commission, the application for referral submitted to the European Commission or the notification filed with the European Commission shall be deemed equivalent to the notification pursuant to Section 39(1);
2. official acts under Sections 19a, 26, 30(3), Section 31b(1) and (3), Sections 32 to 32d, Section 34 – in each case also in conjunction with Sections 50 to 50f – and Sections 36, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 60;
3. any discontinuation of the dissolution proceedings pursuant to Section 41(3);
4. the issuance of certified copies from the files of the competition authority;
5. decisions granting access to the files of the competition authority or the provision of information from those files pursuant to Section 56(5) or pursuant to Sections 406e or 475 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure.
The cost of publications, public notices and additional executed copies, duplicates and excerpts, as well as the contributions to be paid due to the analogous application of the German Judicial Remuneration and Compensation Act [Justizvergütungs- und -entschädigungsgesetz] shall also be charged as expenditures. The fee for the notification of a concentration pursuant to Section 39(1) shall be credited against the fee for the clearance or prohibition of a concentration pursuant to Section 36(1).
(2) The amount of the fees shall be determined according to the personnel and material expenses of the competition authority, taking into account the economic significance of the subject matter of the act subject to fees. However, the fee rates shall not exceed
1. EUR 50,000 in the cases specified in Sections 36, 39, 40, 41(3) and (4) and Section 42;
2. EUR 25,000 in the cases specified in Section 19a, Section 31b(3), Sections 32 and 32b(1) as well as Sections 32c (1), 32d, 34 and 41(2) sentences 1 and 2;
3. EUR 5,000 in the cases where access to the files of the competition authority is granted or information from those files is provided pursuant to Section 56(5) or pursuant to Section 406e or Section 475 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure;
4. EUR 5,000 in the cases specified in Section 26(1) and (2), Section 30(3), Section 31a(1) and Section 31b(1);
5. EUR 17.50 for issuing certified copies pursuant to subsection (1) sentence 2 no 4;
6. and
a) in the cases specified in Section 40(3a), also in conjunction with Section 41(2) sentence 3 and Section 42(2) sentence 2, the amount charged for the clearance, exemption or authorisation;
b) EUR 250 for decisions relating to agreements or decisions of the kind described in Section 28(1);
c) in the case specified in Section 26(4), the amount charged for the decision pursuant to Section 26(1);
d) in the cases specified in Sections 32a and 60, one fifth of the fee in the main proceedings.
If the personnel or material expenses of the competition authority are unusually high in a particular case, taking into account the economic importance of the act subject to fees concerned, the fee may be increased by up to twice its amount. For reasons of equity, the fee determined according to sentences 1 to 3 may be reduced to a minimum of one tenth of its amount.
(3) As regards payment for several similar official acts or similar notifications by the same person liable to pay the fee, provision may be made for lump-sum fee rates which take into account the limited extent of the administrative expenses involved.
(4) Fees shall not be charged
1. for oral and written information and suggestions;
2. if they would not have arisen had the matter been handled correctly;
3. in the cases specified in Section 42 if the preceding decision of the Bundeskartellamt pursuant to Section 36(1) or Section 41(3) has been reversed.
No 1 shall not be applicable if information is provided from a file of the competition authority pursuant to Section 56(5) or Section 406e or Section 475 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure.
(5) If an application is withdrawn before a decision is made in that matter, one half of the fee shall be payable. This shall also apply if the notification of a concentration is withdrawn before second phase proceedings are initiated.
(6) The person liable to pay the costs shall be
1. in the cases specified in subsection (1) sentence 2 no 1, whoever has submitted a notification or an application for referral;
2. in the cases specified in subsection (1) sentence 2 no 2, whoever has, by making an application or submitting a notification, caused the competition authority to act, or the person against whom the competition authority has issued a decision;
3. in the cases specified in subsection (1) sentence 2 no 3, whoever was required to submit the notification pursuant to Section 39(2);
4. in the cases specified in subsection (1) sentence 2 no 4, whoever caused the copies to be made;
5. in the cases specified in subsection (1) sentence 2 no 5, whoever applied for the granting of access to the files of the competition authority or the provision of information from those files pursuant to Section 56(5) or pursuant to Section 406e or Section 475 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure.
Whoever, by declaration made before or communicated to the competition authority, assumed the obligation to pay the costs, or is liable by virtue of the law to pay the costs owed by another person, shall also be liable to pay the costs. Several debtors shall be jointly and severally liable.
(7) The claim to payment of the fees shall become statute-barred four years after the assessment of the fees. The claim to reimbursement of expenses shall become statute-barred four years after they have arisen.
(8) The Federal Government shall be authorised to regulate, by way of a statutory instrument requiring the approval of the Bundesrat, the fee rates and the collection of the fees from persons liable to pay fees under the provisions set out in subsections (1) to (6), as well as the reimbursement of expenses pursuant to subsection (1) sentence 3. For this purpose, the Federal Government may also issue provisions which concern the exemption of legal persons under public law from costs, the limitation period, and the collection of costs.
(9) The Federal Government shall regulate, by way of a statutory instrument requiring the approval of the Bundesrat, the details regarding the reimbursement of the costs incurred in proceedings before the competition authority in accordance with the principles of Section 71.