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

Section 6(1) of the Act mirrors Article 101 TFEU and prohibits “agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices by undertakings which have the intention to or will result in hindrance, impediment or distortion of competition within the Dutch market, or on a part thereof ”. Unlike Article 101, Section 6(1) does not set out a list of anticompetitive …

The prohibition

Section 6(1) of the Act mirrors Article 101 TFEU and prohibits “agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices by undertakings which have the intention to or will result in hindrance, impediment or distortion of competition within the Dutch market, or on a part thereof ”. Unlike Article 101, Section 6(1) does not set out a list of anticompetitive practices.

Section 7 of the Act excludes de minimis agreements from the Section 6 prohibition. Agreements, decisions and concerted practices are considered de minimis if not more than eight undertakings are involved in the relevant agreement, concerted practice, or association of undertakings, and the combined turnover of these undertakings is not more than EUR 5,5 million where the core activity is the supply of goods, or EUR 1,1 million in all other cases. Alternatively, if the combined market share of the undertakings involved in the agreement, decision or concerted practice does not exceed 5%, and their combined turnover is not higher than EUR 40 million, they are also allowed to cooperate. The ACM has discretion to apply the prohibition in Section 6 to an agreement that would ordinarily fall within the de minimis exclusion if, taking into account the nature of the relevant market, an agreement is nevertheless deemed to have a significantly detrimental effect on competition (Section 9).

On 26 February 2019, the ACM released two sets of guidelines, relative respectively to horizontal and to vertical agreements, clarifying the authority's approach towards such arrangements. In addition, in 2023 the Dutch Competition Authority issued a new policy rule according to which undertakings may collaborate in order to achieve sustainability goals. 

Agreements and decisions which are prohibited pursuant to Section 6(1) are considered null and void (Section 6(2)).

Certain anticompetitive agreements may be individually exempted where they provide countervailing benefits for competition (Section 15).

The grounds for the granting of an individual exemption in Dutch law are the same as those set out in Article 101(3) TFEU, namely the agreement must contribute to improving production or distribution or to promoting technical or economic progress, while allowing consumers a fair share of the resulting benefit, and at the same time must not:

- impose on the undertakings concerned restrictions which are not indispensable to the attainment of the objectives in question;

- allow the undertakings in question the possibility of eliminating competition in respect of a substantial part of the products or services in question.

Since 1 August 2004, the Act no longer provides for a block exemption mechanism similar to the block exemptions available in EU law.

Global Competition Law

738. The prohibition

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Les notions juridiques connexes

738. The prohibition

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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