Global Competition Law is primarly a practitioner's guide presenting the most salient aspects of the major competition laws country by country, giving an overview of their structure and most charasteristic elements.
Global Competition Law also provides insight into possible future developments in the field.

Global Competition Law

Following the adoption of Act No 1/2002 of 21 February 2002, several regional governments established their own antitrust agencies and drafted statutes. This is the case of Andalucía, Aragón, Canarias (which has set up a Service but no decision-making body), Castilla La Mancha, Castilla y León, Cataluña, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, Murcia, País Vasco, and Valencia. Those authorities exercise the …

Regional antitrust authorities

In a bid to optimize economies of scale in a context of economic austerity and ensure a consistent application of competition regulation in all network industries Act No 3/2013 of 4 June 2013 merged into a single entity the previous Comision Nacional de la Competencia (CNC) with six sectoral regulators: the Energy Commission, the Telecommunications Commission, the Railway Commission, the Postal Commission, the Airport Commission and the Audiovisual Media Commission. The new CNMC therefore combines the function of ex ante supervision of sector-specific markets with the CNC's traditional ex post control duties. Entrusted with the preservation of the competitive organization of the markets, the CNMC exercises its functions throughout the Spanish territory. The CNMC has legal personality with organic and functional autonomy vis-à-vis the Government.

The CNMC consists of a Council and a President, the Council being the decision-making body. The Council is composed of ten members appointed by the Government - with a veto right conferred on the Parliament - for a non-renewable six-year term. It operates in plenary sessions or in two Chambers of five members, one of which is dedicated to competition issues, the other to regulatory matters. Act No 3/2013 provides for an adequate separation between the functions of investigation and resolution. To this end, four Directorates in charge of investigations were created: the Competition Directorate, the Telecommunications and Audiovisual Directorate, the Energy Directorate and the Transport and Postal Sector Directorate. 

Its fields of competence are listed in Sections 24 to 26, namely:

- to resolve the matters coming before it in terms of conduct restrictive of competition and economic concentration control;

- to apply EU rules on restrictive agreements and abuse of dominance in Spain;

- to carry out arbitral functions, whether legal or equitable, provided for by law;

- to give an opinion on draft and proposal rules that affect competition, on opening projects of large commercial establishments under Act No 7/1996 on the organization of small retail trade, on criteria for the quantification of compensations that the perpetrators of conduct laid down in Sections 1 to 3 of the Act must pay to the victims when required to do so by the commercial courts;

- to issue reports on the impact of State aid on effective competition on the markets.

The Act also empowered the CNMC to carry out consultative functions for Spanish institutions and the Government or private bodies, such as professional or consumer organizations, on competition matters. Finally, the CNMC may impose fines on natural persons and legal entities.

In 2021, the Royal Decree-Law 7/2021 expanded the inspection powers of the CNMC, allowing for inspections to be carried out in any other office or business premise where there may be relevant evidence for an investigation.

The National Markets and Competition Commission - CNMC (Comision Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia)

Following the adoption of Act No 1/2002 of 21 February 2002, several regional governments established their own antitrust agencies and drafted statutes. This is the case of Andalucía, Aragón, Canarias (which has set up a Service but no decision-making body), Castilla La Mancha, Castilla y León, Cataluña, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, Murcia, País Vasco, and Valencia. Those authorities exercise the competences derived from Sections 1 to 3 of Act No 15/2007 in relation to agreements or practices having effect only in their territories.

  Act No 1/2002 provides for the adoption of co-operation agreements between national antitrust authorities and the appropriate bodies of the Autonomous Communities.

Global Competition Law

689. Regional antitrust authorities

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les notions juridiques connexes

689. Regional antitrust authorities

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise