Member States shall ensure that the limitation periods for the imposition of fines or periodic penalty payments by the national competition authorities pursuant to Articles 13 and 16 shall be suspended or interrupted for the duration of enforcement proceedings before national competition authorities of other Member States or the Commission in respect of an infringement concerning the same agreement, decision of an association, concerted practice or other conduct prohibited by Article 101 or 102 TFEU.

The suspension of the limitation period shall start, or the interruption of the limitation period shall take place, from the notification of the first formal investigative measure to at least one undertaking subject to the enforcement proceedings. It shall apply to all undertakings or associations of undertakings which have participated in the infringement.

The suspension or interruption shall end on the day the competition authority concerned closes its enforcement proceedings by taking a decision referred to in Article 10, 12 or 13 of this Directive or pursuant to Article 7, 9 or 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003, or has concluded that there are no grounds for further action on its part. The duration of such suspension or interruption is without prejudice to absolute limitation periods provided for under national law.

The limitation period for the imposition of fines or periodic penalty payments by a national competition authority shall be suspended or interrupted for as long as the decision of that national competition authority is the subject of proceedings pending before a review court.

The Commission shall ensure that the notification of the first formal investigative measure received from a national competition authority under Article 11(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 is made available to the other national competition authorities within the European Competition Network.