Compliance House
Competition Law and Compliance
In order to promote fair competition and free trade within the European Union, competition law, including merger control and cartel prohibition and the prohibition of abuse of a dominant position, limits the market behaviour of companies. If a company does not respect these limits, it can have all kinds of drastic consequences for the company, such as administrative fines, nullity of prohibited agreements or civil liability. After all, the European Commission, the ACM (Authority for Consumers & Markets) and other national competition authorities have far-reaching, parallel powers to monitor compliance with competition law restrictions and to investigate suspected infringements. Compliance with competition law therefore is, also considering the stricter enforcement, important for every company.
Curious about how your company is doing in the context of compliance and what Compliance House can do for you?
Please contact our specialists
It is true that in the field of competition law there is no legal obligation to introduce a compliance programme. However, it is important for companies to think ahead and anticipate potential risks, rather than address the problem when it occurs. After all, a well-functioning compliance programme can prevent not only violations of competition law, but also reputation damage, disqualification of directors, nullity of contract provisions, time-consuming and costly investigations by the ACM and the European Commission and compensation procedures of customers or consumers.
However, if there is a breach of competition law, a sound compliance programme can identify infringements more quickly and speed up their termination. In addition, an effective compliance programme prevents the amount of a possible administrative fine from rising further. Indeed, the duration of the infringement of competition law is a very important circumstance which the ACM takes into account when determining the amount of the fine.
Would you like to know which competition rules apply to your company? Or does an infringement occur within your company and do you want information about your legal position? The Compliance House specialists are experts in competition law and compliance and are happy to answer your questions. In addition, Compliance House can provide your company with advice on the opportunities and risks related to your activities and help you set up a compliance program.
Curious about how your company is doing in the context of compliance and what Compliance House can do for you?
Please contact our specialists