​Press Release 24/2020
December 30, 2020

 

 

The AdC – Portuguese Competition Authority set as Competition Policy Priorities for 2021 to investigate signs of abuse and collusion in digital environment, given the partial shift in the risk of anticompetitive behavior to electronic commerce.
 

 “In 2021, the AdC will remain vigilant in detecting abuses or anti-competitive behavior that exploit the current situation, for example in terms of price fixing or market sharing, at any level of the supply chain, including in electronic commerce. Such behavior tends, in the current context, to aggravate the situation of households and the economy”, stated the President of the AdC, Margarida Matos Rosa.

The AdC created in 2020, an inter-departmental digital task force that will remain valid in 2021 to protect and enhance competitive dynamics in the digital economy.

In 2021, in addition to the consolidation of the investigation pace, the AdC is focused on contributing to the economic recovery by promoting the elimination of structural and legal barriers, such as those to professional mobility and to corporate innovation.

 

“By eliminating barriers in different careers, unemployment may be more easily reduced, allowing for professional retraining. By eliminating barriers to innovative firms, the economy may recover from the past year with sufficient agility and resilience for the next decade. Contributing to such agility means removing, inter alia, structural and legal barriers that hinder innovation, efficiency and growth”, stated Margarida Matos Rosa.

 

The work that the OECD carried out in 2018 in collaboration with the AdC allows to conclude that the numerous barriers identified for a set of liberal professions still persist in Portugal.

Thus, in these as in other areas, the AdC set as a priority the reinforcement of the contribution to the public decision-making process, with a view to improving the legislative and regulatory framework, in order to allow the elimination of these barriers.

On the other hand, the AdC will continue, whenever relevant, to issue opinions during the legislative process.

 

Recognizing that 2021 will unfold with economic difficulties hitting several households as well as firms, the AdC considers urgent to enforce competition rules, as these enable the consumers with greater choice in terms of price and quality, as well as greater economic initiative to companies.

Thus, in 2021, the AdC will remain vigilant in detecting abuses or anti-competitive behavior that exploit the current situation, as such behavior tends to aggravate the situation of households and the economy.

“Following four years of focusing, with significant results, on combating cartels and other harmful practices to consumers and firms, the Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC) will continue in 2021 to defend economic activity from such practices. Despite the pandemic, the Authority was able to carry out its mission during 2020”, reminds the President, in the Priorities document.

The Competition Policy Priorities are established annually by the President of the AdC, without any sectoral reference within the scope of its sanctioning powers, in accordance with the entity's statutes.