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

The Minister for Economic Affairs may, inter alia, ask the Competition Prosecutor General to investigate violations of Sections IV.1, IV.2 and IV.10, or in the event of non-compliance with a decision taken by virtue of those Sections (Section IV.39 of the CDE), require the Competition Board to carry out sector-specific investigations (Section IV.47), and submit requests to the Competition Board fo …

The Minister for Economic Affairs

The Competition Act of 3 April 2013 (Belgian Official Gazette 26 April 2013) which introduced competition rules in the CDE wholly redesigned the Competition Authority. Pursuant to Section IV.16 of the CDE, the Competition Authority is an independant body which exercices its functions without being subject to any political or external influence. It is composed of a President and the service of the president; the Competition College; the Board and the investigation service under the direction of the Competition prosecutor general. 

Section IV.19 defines the President's responsibilities:

1º representing Belgium in European and international competition organizations;

2º contributing to the preparation and evaluation of economic competition policy in Belgium and handling issues or cases where no formal proceedings are opened pursuant to Section IV.41;

3º contributing to the preparation of Belgian legislation and regulations on economic competition;

4º representing the Competition Authority in proceedings dealt with in Articles IV.86 to IV.90.

5° providing informal views on the application of competition law rules.

Under Section IV. 20, the Competition College is the decision-making body. 

The Board is responsible for the Competition Authority's management and for drafting guidelines on the application of the competition law rules, to draw up an annual memorandum in which its policy priorities are laid down and to draw up internal rules for the Investigation service (Sections IV.25).

Finally, the Competition prosecutor general and the Investigation service are in charge of investigating cases, handling complaints, drafting preliminary decisions for the Competition Board and monitoring the implementation of decisions made by the Competition Board and the Court of Appeals (Section IV.26).

Furthermore, as for the procedure before the Belgian Competition Authority, the Royal Decree of 11 December 2023 introduced several procedural innovations.

First, it implements a complaint form outlining the necessary information complainants are expected to submit when filing a complaint pursuant to Article IV.39, 2°, CEL for alleged competition law violations. This measure aims to ensure that the Belgian Competition Authority receives sufficient information to assess the admissibility and merits of the complaint.

Second, requests for interim measures, as per Article IV.72, CEL, will only be considered once the Competition prosecutor general has initiated an investigation. Consequently, simultaneous submission of such requests with a complaint is no longer possible.

Third, unless stated otherwise, all communications with the BCA must occur via email with acknowledgment of receipt.

Fourth, the decree replaces the rule according to which any annexes to merger notifications which are not in one of Belgium's official languages or in English must be translated into the language of the notification, by the rule according to which the BCA can request translations of annexes which are not in one of Belgium's official languages.

Fifth, the decree specifies that Phase 1 of merger reviews begins the day after the receipt of a complete notification.

The Competition Authority (Autorité de la concurrence)

 The Competition Advisory Commission is established within the Central Council for the Economy. It is an advisory body empowered to issue opinions, on its own initiative or on request of the Minister for Economic Affairs, on all general matters of competition policy (Section IV.37 CDE). This Commission represents the opinions of workers, and the industrial, agricultural, trade and crafts sectors, as well as consumers. It is not an organ of the Competition Authority.

The Competition Advisory Commission (Commission consultative spéciale concurrence)

The Minister for Economic Affairs may, inter alia, ask the Competition Prosecutor General to investigate violations of Sections IV.1, IV.2 and IV.10, or in the event of non-compliance with a decision taken by virtue of those Sections (Section IV.39 of the CDE), require the Competition Board to carry out sector-specific investigations (Section IV.47), and submit requests to the Competition Board for interim measures (Section IV.72) or refer a decision of the Competition Board to the Brussels Court of Appeal for judicial review.

Global Competition Law

41. The Minister for Economic Affairs

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Les notions juridiques connexes

41. The Minister for Economic Affairs

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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