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EU proposal to boost national competition powers does not go far enough, says expert


The European Commission has opened a consultation on whether national competition authorities should be given additional tools to enforce antitrust rules.

Although welcome, the proposed changes do not go far enough to resolve the problems faced in EU competition enforcement, said competition law expert Guy Lougher of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.

The Commission proposals include: giving national authorities tools to detect and sanction violations of EU competition rules; encouraging companies to come forward to national authorities with evidence of illegal cartels, through 'leniency' programmes; and safeguarding the independence of the national authorities while ensuring they have the staff and resources they need, it said in a statement.

Some national competition authorities currently face difficulties in investigations, for example in gathering evidence stored on digital devices when inspecting the premises of a suspected cartelist, while others are unable to impose effective fines for anticompetitive behaviour, the Commission said.

Lougher said: "The Commission’s initiative, trying to ensure that all national competition authorities within the EU have sufficient legal powers and independence to function effectively, is a sensible one and will help facilitate effective competition enforcement across the EU. The Commission is correct to identify the particular need for the EU’s national competition authorities to be independent and adequately resourced."

"However, the Commission’s initiative will not on its own address three important issues around competition enforcement within the EU. First, there needs to be more effective coordination and cooperation of enforcement and approach across the Commission and different national authorities; this is currently a particular issue for online and digital markets, most starkly evident in relation to the online hotel bookings sector," he said.

"Second, there is still insufficient harmonisation of procedures between different national competition authorities in the EU, especially for merger control and leniency programmes. Finally, activity levels of national competition enforcement currently vary significantly between different EU countries, which undermines efforts to ensure that competition law compliance is treated as a priority by businesses across the EU," Lougher said.

Margrethe Vestager, EU commissioner in charge of competition policy, said: "The EU antitrust rules serve European citizens and businesses by contributing to the right conditions for economic growth. For over ten years, national competition authorities have played a key role in enforcing EU antitrust rules alongside the Commission. Thanks to this cooperation at EU and national levels, competition rules have been applied more thoroughly and effectively than would otherwise have been possible. We are now taking stock to see if we can further improve the toolbox of national competition authorities. I would like to hear the views of all those interested to find the best way forward."

Responses to the public consultation can be submitted until 12 February 2016

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