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

Competition law in Portugal was previously governed by Decree-Law No 10/2003 of 18 January 2003 (Diarío da República No 15/2003), which created a new competition authority (Autoridade da Concorrência), while Act No 18/2003 of 11 June 2003 (Diarío da República No 134/2003) set out Portugal's main competition rules (hereafter the Competition Act) and Act No 39/2006 of 25 August 2006 introduced a len …

Context

Competition law in Portugal was previously governed by Decree-Law No 10/2003 of 18 January 2003 (Diarío da República No 15/2003), which created a new competition authority (Autoridade da Concorrência), while Act No 18/2003 of 11 June 2003 (Diarío da República No 134/2003) set out Portugal's main competition rules (hereafter the Competition Act) and Act No 39/2006 of 25 August 2006 introduced a leniency scheme in Portuguese law. Acts No 18/2003 and No 39/2006 were repealed and replaced by Act No 19/2012 of 8 May 2012 (Diarío da República No 89/2012), which entered into force on 7 July 2012. The new Act, adopted following the Memorandum of Understanding between the Portuguese Republic and the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Union, aims at aligning Portuguese competition law with EU law and strengthening the Portuguese Competition Authority in order to enhance enforcement of competition law in Portugal. In this regard, Law No. 17/2022 of 16 September 2022 transposed the ECN+ Directive.

In the area of unfair practices, Decree-Law No 166/2013 of 27 December 2013 on individual restrictive trade practices (praticas individuais restritivas do comercio) repealed and replaced Decree-Law No 370/93. Like the previous provisions, Decree-Law No 166/2013 contained a prohibition of discriminatory pricing, resale below cost, refusals to sell and other unfair practices. Apart from clarifying the definition of the infringing behavior, the new provisions bringed changes in the method of setting fines. While increasing the amount of the fines incurred, they also took better account of the particular financial situation of the undertakings concerned. Whereas investigations under Decree-Law No 370/93 were conducted by the Competition Authority under the supervision of the ASAE (Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica - the authority in charge for Food and Economic Safety), the implementation of Decree-Law No 166/2013 is carried out by the ASAE alone.  Decree-Law No 166/2013 was lastly amended by Decree-Law No 128/2019 of 29 August 2019, in order to better adjust the interplay of Decree-Law No 166/2013 with Act No 19/2012 and strengthen the investigative powers of the ASAE. Henceforth, discriminatory pricing and refusals to sell between undertakings will only be caught under the rules of Act No 19/2012. The methods of calculation of resale below cost have also been amended in order to allow a wider consideration of certain discounts.

Pursuant to Section 2 of the Act, Portuguese competition rules are applicable to anticompetitive practices that occur within the Portuguese national territory and to practices outside of Portugal that may have an effect within Portugal.

The Competition Act is applicable to all economic activities undertaken in the private, public or cooperative sectors. Section 3 defines the undertakings concerned by the Act as “any entity that has an economic activity comprising the supply of goods or services in a specific market, irrespective of its legal status or means of financing”. However, undertakings legally entrusted with the management of services of general economic interest, or which by their nature are legal monopolies, are only subject to the Competition Act where its enforcement does not create an obstacle to the fulfillment of their specific mission (Section 4).

The Competition Authority has jurisdiction to apply competition rules in all economic sectors and under Section 35 of the Act, cooperates with regulatory authorities where they exist (e.g. telecommunications).

Global Competition Law

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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