Cooperation - ECA

Activity of the Working Groups in 2006

This working group has kept the ECA network particularly active by way of the exchange, between its members, of communications on the mergers notified that affect the markets of other Member States.

In 2006, the Competition Authority handled the electronic management of the information on multi-jurisdictional merger operations, which reached the number of 323 Communications; of these, 18 were initiated by Portugal on the grounds that they had a direct, preponderating impact in its territory.

Working Group on Air Transport 2006

The Competition Authority participated in the three meetings organised for this working group, which took place on 3 April in Budapest, 2 May in Lisbon, organised by the Competition Authority, and 26-27 October in Copenhagen. In the first two meetings, code-sharing agreements were debated: this included discussion of the final document on the influence of code-sharing on the air transport market and discussion of a possible joint statement. Also discussed at the meeting were the definitions of 'relevant market' and 'dominant position' in air transport and, in addition, competition within and between airports (a matter proposed by the Nordic countries). Among the results obtained, of particular note are the working group's support in carrying out internal studies and researches and the presentation to the directors-general (at the Nice meeting) of an article on the topic of code-sharing, entitled “Code-sharing agreements in scheduled passenger air transport – The European Competition Authorities' perspective”. In accordance with the new mandate granted by the directors-general, the aim of the meeting that took place in Copenhagen in October 2006 was to organise and structure the preparation of a document on competition within and between airports, on the basis not only of theoretical developments but also information exchange on cases analysed by the different national authorities in this respect. This document will be submitted to the approval of the directors-general by March 2007.

Working Group on Banking 2006

The Competition Authority took part in a meeting of this working group in the Hague on 21 April. At this meeting, a report by the ECA – Financial Services Working Group was presented and discussed. The Competition Authority made various observations and corrections relating to the document.

Working Group on Sanctions 2006

The Competition Authority took part in the first meeting of this group, which was created at the Nice Plenary Meeting. Its goal is to analyse the legal and regulatory framework regarding the monetary sanctions applicable to collective persons for infringement of the competition rules and to explore the possibility of joint initiatives in this area.

This group's work will be submitted to the Annual ECA Meeting scheduled to take place in Portugal in April 2007.