Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: EC urges strengthening enforcement of EU antitrust rules by national competition authorities, (Jul 9, 2014)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

The European Commission (EC) has adopted a Communication advocating the enhanced enforcement of European Union (EU) competition rules by national competition authorities (NCAs), the EC announced today.

Since 2004, both the EC and NCAs have the power to fully enforce the EU’s antitrust rules. The Commission aims to further strengthen the position and tools of the NCAs, and the Communication adopted today sets out priority areas where further progress is necessary. The Commission will then assess which policy initiatives should be taken to best achieve these goals.

The implementation of Regulation 1/2003 in 2004 transformed the competition enforcement landscape, giving NCAs and national courts a key role in applying the EU rules on restrictive business practices and abuses of dominant market positions. Since 2004, the Commission and the NCAs have adopted nearly 800 decisions, investigating a broad range of cases, involving different types of infringements and carrying out inquiries in key sectors of the economy.

Close cooperation between the Commission and the NCAs in the European Competition Network (ECN) has underpinned the coherent application of the EU competition rules by all enforcers.

The Communication, entitled "Ten Years of Antitrust Enforcement—achievements and future perspectives," identifies a number of areas in which further progress should be made: (1) guaranteeing the independence of NCAs in the exercise of their tasks and making sure that they have sufficient resources; (2) ensuring that NCAs have a complete set of effective investigative and decision-making tools; and (3) ensuring that effective tools for imposing deterrent and proportionate fines and well-designed leniency programs are in place in all Member States; and avoiding disincentives for corporate leniency applicants.

The Communication also sets out a facts-based review of public enforcement during 2004-2013 by the Commission and the NCAs and an examination of key aspects of enforcement by the NCAs, with a view to further enhancing it. The Communication is accompanied by two Staff Working Documents, “Ten Years of Antitrust Enforcement under Regulation 1/2003” and “Enhancing competition enforcement by Member States’ competition authorities: institutional and procedural issues,” which explain the Communication in more detail.

“The EU’s competition rules are now being applied on a scale which the Commission could never have achieved on its own. This is a significant contribution to a level playing field for companies operating in the Single Market,” said Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia. “It is now time to build on the achievements of the last decade and make sure that the national competition authorities are truly independent and they all have a complete set of effective enforcement tools.”

News: Antitrust