How to Prepare for a Dawn Raid: What to Do When the Commission or the CMA Arrives

What a dawn raid is and who can carry one out

A dawn raid is an unannounced inspection of a company's premises by a competition authority looking for evidence of a cartel or an abuse of market power. The name is a misnomer: the CMA says its officers normally arrive during business hours. What sets a raid apart from an information request is surprise. The authority comes in person because it suspects documents would be hidden or destroyed if it simply asked for them.

For European businesses the main actors are the European Commission, which enforces Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the national competition authorities of the Member States and, in the UK, the CMA under the Competition Act 1998. The Commission also inspects under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, covered in our guide to the EU rules on foreign subsidies.

An inspection is a preliminary step, and the Commission's announcements stress that it does not mean the company is guilty. It can still lead to a fine calculated on turnover, as our explainer on how EU cartel fines are calculated shows, and in the UK it can expose individuals to the criminal cartel offence.

The European Commission's inspection powers under Articles 20 and 21

The Commission's power to raid comes from Regulation 1/2003. Article 20 covers business premises and Article 21 other premises, including homes. The Commission explains how it uses these powers in its explanatory note on inspections, revised in March 2024. Under Article 20(2) the inspectors may:

• Enter any premises, land and means of transport of the undertaking.
• Examine business records, whatever medium they are stored on.
• Copy or obtain in any form copies of or extracts from those records.
• Seal premises, books or records for as long as the inspection requires.
• Question any representative or member of staff about facts or documents relating to the subject matter, and record the answers.

Most raids are ordered by a decision under Article 20(4), and a company is legally obliged to submit. The explanatory note says inspectors cannot be required to expand on the subject matter or justify the decision, and that officials of the national authority may assist with the same powers. Signing the minute of notification only certifies delivery; it does not imply submission.

Under Article 21 the Commission can inspect the homes of directors, managers and other staff where it reasonably suspects that records relating to a serious infringement are kept there. That requires prior authorisation from a national judicial authority, which checks that the decision is authentic and the measures proportionate but cannot question the need for the inspection.

The CMA's powers under the Competition Act 1998 and the DMCC Act changes

In the UK the powers sit in Part I, Chapter III of the Competition Act 1998, explained in the CMA's procedural guidance, CMA8, updated in January 2025. There are three routes:

• Section 27, entry without a warrant. Officers may enter business premises, normally after two working days' written notice, or without notice if the CMA reasonably suspects the occupier is under investigation. They can require documents to be produced and explained, but only a warrant authorises a search.
• Section 28, warrant for business premises. The High Court, the Court of Session or the Competition Appeal Tribunal can issue a warrant where documents might otherwise be concealed or destroyed. Officers may use reasonable force to enter (never against a person), search, copy and take documents. A warrant lasts one month; documents taken may be kept for three months.
• Section 28A, warrant for domestic premises. The same powers apply to homes used for the business or where business documents are kept.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, covered in our report on the DMCC Act, reshaped these powers. As the law stands on 3 November 2026, inspections reach documents and electronic information on or accessible from the premises, and section 25B imposes a duty not to falsify, conceal or destroy documents once a person knows or suspects an investigation is likely. The biggest change is to penalties: from 1 January 2025 the CMA can fine a business up to 1% of turnover for obstruction or non-compliance, plus up to 5% of daily turnover per day. Individuals still face a cap of £30,000, or £15,000 a day. The same reforms sit behind the CMA's consumer fines, such as the £4.8 million Wayfair penalty.

Issue	European Commission	CMA (UK)
Legal basis	Regulation 1/2003, Articles 20 and 21	Competition Act 1998, sections 27, 28 and 28A
Authorisation	Commission decision; national court authorisation for homes	Written authorisation (s 27) or a court or Tribunal warrant (ss 28, 28A)
Waiting for lawyers	Only a short delay, kept to the strict minimum	A reasonable time, if no in-house lawyer is on site
In-house legal advice	Not privileged (Akzo, 2010)	Section 30 test: whatever the High Court would protect
Main obstruction penalty	Up to 1% of total turnover; periodic penalties up to 5% of average daily turnover	Up to 1% of turnover and 5% of daily turnover; £30,000 for individuals; criminal offence

How to prepare for a dawn raid before it happens

The honest answer to how to prepare for a dawn raid is that most of the work happens months before the inspectors arrive. The CMA asks the person in charge to designate a point of contact, and the Commission expects staff who can explain the IT systems and execute technical tasks. Both assume the company is organised. A practical checklist covers six areas:

• A written policy. A short dawn raid policy for each significant site, in the local language, with a one-page reception script and an out-of-hours escalation list.
• A response team. Named people and deputies from legal, IT, communications and management, plus a pool of trained shadowers.
• External counsel on call. A competition firm able to attend at short notice in every country where you have premises.
• IT readiness. A map of where data lives, including cloud services and messaging apps, and a tested way to suspend auto-deletion.
• A clean privilege trail. External legal advice clearly marked and filed, remembering that internal advice is not protected before the Commission.
• Training and mock raids. Reception and security first, then managers, then a realistic unannounced rehearsal.

Build dawn raid training around the M&J Group facts: a director, an office manager asked to help him and a phone removed for a few hours led to fines on both individuals. Staff must hear plainly that hiding, deleting or moving anything during an inspection is a separate breach, whatever the merits of the case. The same discipline runs through our guide on how to respond to a data breach.

Role	Main tasks on the day
Reception and security	Greet inspectors, check identity, offer a meeting room, call the response team, never refuse entry
Raid coordinator (usually the general counsel)	Reads the decision or warrant, liaises with counsel, allocates shadowers, single point of contact
External competition counsel	Advises on scope and privilege, attends interviews, reviews copies
Shadowers	Accompany each inspector, record searches, keywords and every item copied
IT lead	Explains systems, executes technical requests, suspends deletion, logs instructions
Communications lead	Prepares holding statements for staff, investors and press

Step 1: Handle reception calmly and without obstruction

The first step in any dawn raid procedure is the front desk. Reception should greet the officials politely, ask for identification and authorisation, and invite them to wait in a meeting room while the response team and lawyers are called. Commission inspectors each provide proof of identity and a written authorisation naming them. CMA officers produce identification, their authorisation or warrant, a document describing the investigation and the offences for failing to cooperate, and a note of their powers and the occupier's right to ask for a legal adviser.

Reception must not refuse entry, argue about legality, warn colleagues or other companies, or move papers. CMA8 says that while officers wait for lawyers they may seal filing cabinets, keep records where they are, suspend external email or calls and occupy offices of their choice. Send a copy of the authorisation to the raid coordinator and start a log of arrival times and officials' names.

Step 2: Call the lawyers and read the decision or warrant

The second step is to get lawyers in and the scope document read. Before the Commission, the company may consult external counsel, but their presence is not a condition of legality: inspectors may enter and occupy offices without waiting, and will accept only a short delay, kept to the strict minimum, before examining or copying records. The CMA is slightly more generous: with no notice and no in-house lawyer on site, officers may wait a reasonable time for legal advisers.

Meanwhile, the general counsel should read the decision or warrant closely. It defines the subject matter: the suspected conduct, the products or services and often the territory and period. That scope is the company's main protection, and a shadower who knows it can politely question searches that stray outside it. Keep the decision or warrant and the minute of notification together for any later challenge.

Step 3: Shadow every inspector and keep a record

The third step is to put a trained representative alongside every inspector or team. The Commission's note confirms representatives may observe the inspectors' actions provided they do not interfere. Shadowing is not about slowing things down; it is about knowing afterwards exactly what was seen, copied and asked.

Each shadower should log rooms and custodians searched, search terms and date ranges used on electronic data, every document or device examined, questions and answers, and any disagreement about scope or privilege. Shadowers should not answer substantive questions unless authorised. At the end of each day the logs go to external counsel to check against the authority's own list.

Step 4: Protect legal privilege, including in-house advice

Privilege is where EU and UK rules differ most. In the Akzo Nobel judgment of 14 September 2010, the Court of Justice confirmed that privilege in Commission competition investigations covers only communications with independent lawyers, meaning lawyers not employed by the client. Exchanges with in-house counsel are not protected, even where the lawyer is a member of a bar. The emails in Akzo were taken by the Commission, assisted by the Office of Fair Trading, at the company's UK premises.

In the UK, section 30 of the Competition Act 1998 says nobody can be required to produce a privileged communication, defined by what the High Court would protect; the statute contains no Akzo-style exclusion for in-house lawyers. CMA8 says disputed items may be placed in a sealed envelope, and electronic material is filtered for privilege by CMA staff separate from the case team.

Before the Commission, the company can review the provisional data set the inspectors select and raise privilege claims before data reaches the case file. Claim privilege early, explain briefly why each item is protected without revealing its content, and insist that disputed material is sealed rather than read.

Step 5: Manage digital evidence, forensic imaging and personal devices

Most evidence today is electronic. The Commission's note says inspectors may search the whole IT environment, including cloud services, servers, laptops, tablets and mobile devices, and private devices used for work that are found on the premises. They use forensic IT tools to create authentic duplicates of data, including recovered data, and may keep storage media until the inspection ends.

The company must cooperate actively: the Commission can ask staff to run commands, apply litigation holds, block user accounts, disconnect computers and provide administrator rights. Under a CMA warrant, officers may operate equipment, require passwords and encryption keys and copy hard drives and phones; where sorting is impractical on site, CMA8 explains that material can be taken away and sifted later, with irrelevant items returned.

Personal devices are a moving target. On 16 July 2026 the Court of Justice's Grand Chamber ruled in the Portuguese Imagens Médicas Integradas cases (C-258/23 to C-260/23) that business emails are protected communications under the EU Charter but may be seized where justified. EU law does not require prior court approval to inspect business premises, but access to devices owned by individual staff needs prior authorisation from a court or independent body; the devices can be sealed meanwhile. Know in advance which devices are company-owned and which are personal.

Step 6: Handle interviews and requests for explanations

Under Article 20(2)(e) the Commission may ask staff for explanations on facts or documents within the subject matter and record the answers. The company receives a copy afterwards, and where an employee not authorised to speak for it has answered, it gets a deadline to correct or supplement the explanation. Incorrect or misleading answers can lead to a fine of up to 1% of total turnover under Article 23(1)(d).

The CMA's power is broader. Under section 26A of the Competition Act it can require any individual to answer questions on any relevant matter after formal written notice, and CMA8 says this can happen immediately, during an inspection. Interviewees may ask for a legal adviser, though the CMA regards a lawyer acting only for the company as generally inappropriate. The CMA cannot force a business to admit an infringement, but it can ask about facts and existing documents.

Advice to staff is simple: answer factual questions truthfully and briefly, say so if you do not know, do not speculate, and ask for a lawyer before any formal interview. Never deny that a phone, file or meeting exists. In the M&J case the director falsely told officers he had no work mobile phone.

Step 7: Respect seals and avoid any form of obstruction

When an inspection runs overnight, inspectors seal rooms or cabinets, and the company must ensure seals stay intact until the inspectors remove them. In January 2008 the Commission fined E.ON Energie €38 million after a seal on a room of documents collected during a May 2006 inspection showed "VOID" marks the next morning. The Commission rejected explanations such as vibrations, cleaning products and humidity, and found that 20 keys to the room were in circulation among staff.

Obstruction is wider than seals. Article 23(1)(c) to (e) catches incomplete records, refusing an inspection ordered by decision, misleading answers and broken seals, and the explanatory note warns that deleting or tampering with records, even negligently, may be obstruction. The duty to preserve evidence starts at notification and outlasts the visit. In the UK, section 40ZE covers obstruction, concealment and false information, and section 42 makes intentional obstruction of officers acting under a warrant a crime carrying up to two years' imprisonment.

Conduct	European Commission	CMA (UK)
Refusal or incomplete records	Up to 1% of total turnover (Art 23(1)(c))	Up to 1% of turnover; £30,000 for an individual (ss 40ZE, 40A)
Misleading answers	Up to 1% of total turnover (Art 23(1)(d))	Fixed penalty up to the same caps
Breaking a seal	Up to 1% of total turnover (Art 23(1)(e)); E.ON fined €38 million	CMA8 warns tampering with sealed evidence may be a criminal offence
Continuing refusal	Periodic penalty up to 5% of average daily turnover (Art 24(1)(e))	Up to 5% of daily turnover, or £15,000 a day for individuals
Intentional obstruction under a warrant	Fines only	Criminal offence, up to two years' imprisonment (s 42)

Because the M&J conduct predated 1 January 2025, the CMA applied the old £30,000 cap to the business too, fining the company £25,000, its estimating director £20,000 and an office manager £5,000. The items came back the same day, but the CMA said even temporary concealment risked losing evidence. A business caught today faces the turnover-based cap.

Step 8: Close the inspection and manage the aftermath

Before the inspectors leave, make sure the record is complete. The Commission hands over a data carrier holding the final data set and asks the company to sign the export list; if the review is unfinished, it may take a copy to Brussels in a sealed envelope and invite the company to attend its opening. The CMA will provide, where practicable, a list of documents taken. Compare these lists with the shadowers' logs.

Afterwards, counsel debriefs the team and reconstructs what was taken. Keep preservation measures in place, because later deletion is still obstruction. Expect to make confidentiality claims if documents are shared through access to the file. Tell staff what they may say, keep any market announcement factual, and commission an early assessment of the underlying conduct, because it drives the biggest decision: whether to seek leniency.

Cross-border coordinated raids and leniency

Large cartel cases rarely stop at one border. The April 2026 chocolate inspections took place in two Member States, national officials may assist Commission inspectors, and the Akzo inspection was carried out in the UK with the OFT's help. A group with sites in several countries should assume a raid in one may be matched elsewhere, give each site its own reception script and local counsel, and coordinate centrally so answers and privilege positions are consistent.

A raid also starts a race. The Commission's leniency programme gives full immunity to the first cartel participant whose information lets an investigation begin; once it has started, later applicants whose evidence adds significant value can earn reductions of 30% to 50%, 20% to 30% and up to 20%, in order of arrival. The Commission will discuss applications on a no-names basis and covers secret cartels, not vertical restraints. In the UK, CMA8 describes immunity from or significant reductions in penalties, normal immunity from prosecution for cooperating employees and no disqualification applications against current directors of a company granted leniency. Private damages claims remain possible, and in the UK can be brought as collective actions, as in the Google Play Store class action.

When to instruct competition lawyers

Any company that could plausibly be raided should have competition counsel lined up in advance and call them the moment inspectors appear, because scope, privilege, interviews and personal devices all need real-time judgement. Lawyers also add value before a raid: drafting the policy, running training and mock inspections and stress-testing risky practices, a theme shared with our guide on reasonable procedures for failure to prevent fraud.

Look for a team that handles EU and UK inspections regularly, can reach every site you operate and has UK criminal capability in case the cartel offence is in play. Start with our competition and antitrust directory, then narrow to advisers in the United Kingdom, competition lawyers in Belgium for Brussels matters or advisers in Germany, and see our criminal and white-collar directory for the criminal side. If you would rather we did the matching, tell us where your sites are and what you need, from a dawn raid policy to help with a live inspection, using the form below and we will put you in touch with a member who handles competition investigations.

Knowing how to prepare for a dawn raid comes down to removing improvisation. With the CMA fining individuals and the Commission imaging phones and cloud accounts, the companies that fare best are those whose staff already know who to call, what to say and what never to touch. For more on enforcement, see our reports on the CMA's strategic market status designation of Google, the Commission's Facebook Marketplace fine and the phenytoin excessive pricing case.

Frequently asked questions

What is a dawn raid in competition law?

A dawn raid is an unannounced inspection of business premises, and sometimes homes, by a competition authority searching for evidence of cartels or abuse of dominance. In the EU it is ordered under Article 20 or 21 of Regulation 1/2003; in the UK it takes place under sections 27, 28 or 28A of the Competition Act 1998.

What happens during a dawn raid?

Officials show identification and a decision or warrant, then search offices, files and IT systems for documents within its scope. They copy paper and electronic records with forensic tools, may seal rooms overnight and ask staff for explanations. Company representatives shadow them, and the company receives a record of what was copied.

Do we have to wait for our lawyers before the inspection starts?

No. Commission inspectors may enter and occupy offices immediately and accept only a short delay, kept to the strict minimum, before searching. The CMA may wait a reasonable time for legal advisers if there was no notice and no in-house lawyer is on site, but may seal cabinets or suspend email meanwhile.

Is advice from in-house lawyers privileged during a Commission raid?

No. In Akzo Nobel (2010) the Court of Justice held that privilege in Commission competition investigations covers only communications with independent external lawyers. Before the CMA, section 30 of the Competition Act 1998 protects whatever the High Court would treat as privileged, without the Akzo restriction, so the answer depends on the authority.

Can inspectors search mobile phones and personal devices?

The Commission says it may search mobile devices and private devices used for work found on the premises, and CMA warrants allow copying of phones. In July 2026 the Court of Justice held, in a Portuguese case, that devices owned by individuals need prior authorisation by a court or independent body, though they can be sealed meanwhile.

What are the fines for obstructing a dawn raid?

The Commission can fine up to 1% of total turnover for obstruction, misleading answers or broken seals, plus periodic penalties of up to 5% of average daily turnover. Since 1 January 2025 the CMA can fine businesses up to 1% of turnover and 5% of daily turnover, and individuals up to £30,000.

What happens if a seal is broken?

Breaking a Commission seal, intentionally or negligently, can lead to a fine of up to 1% of total turnover under Article 23(1)(e) of Regulation 1/2003. In 2008 the Commission fined E.ON Energie €38 million after a seal on a room of collected documents showed "VOID" marks overnight, rejecting explanations such as humidity.

Should we apply for leniency after a dawn raid?

Possibly, but only on urgent specialist advice. Once an investigation is under way full immunity may be gone, but the Commission still grants reductions of 30% to 50%, 20% to 30% and up to 20% to later applicants whose evidence adds significant value. Speed matters because ranking follows the order of applications.

How often should dawn raid training take place?

Neither authority sets a frequency. A sensible approach is to train reception, security and IT staff when they join and refresh it annually, brief senior managers on interviews and personal devices, run a realistic mock inspection each year and update the dawn raid policy whenever systems, sites or key contacts change.

Sources

1. Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003, Articles 20, 21, 23 and 24: eur-lex.europa.eu
2. European Commission, Explanatory note on Commission inspections under Article 20(4) of Regulation 1/2003 (revised March 2024): competition-policy.ec.europa.eu
3. Court of Justice of the European Union, Press release 90/10, Case C-550/07 P Akzo Nobel Chemicals v Commission (14 September 2010): curia.europa.eu
4. European Commission, €38 million fine on E.ON for breach of a seal, IP/08/108 (30 January 2008): ec.europa.eu
5. European Commission, Unannounced antitrust inspections in the chocolate confectionery sector, IP/26/802 (13 April 2026): ec.europa.eu
6. European Commission, Leniency programme: competition-policy.ec.europa.eu
7. Competition Act 1998, Part I, Chapter III, as amended: legislation.gov.uk
8. Competition and Markets Authority, CMA8 investigation procedures guidance (updated 2 January 2025): gov.uk
9. Competition and Markets Authority, CMA fines construction firm and staff for concealing evidence during inspection (24 September 2026): gov.uk
10. Freshfields, CJEU Grand Chamber on access to emails and personal devices, Joined Cases C-258/23 to C-260/23 (30 July 2026): freshfields.com

About this article

Researched and written by The Corporate INTL Newsroom from Regulation 1/2003, the European Commission's explanatory note and press releases, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Competition Act 1998 and the Competition and Markets Authority's guidance and decisions. It is general information, not legal advice; powers and penalties differ between authorities and change over time, so take advice from a qualified competition lawyer. Last reviewed 3 November 2026. For more analysis visit our newsroom, read more competition and antitrust coverage or subscribe to our newsletter.