Press Release 13/2026

July 23, 2026
The Lisbon Court of Appeal has upheld the appeals brought by the Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC) and the Public Prosecutor's Office and has set aside the judgment of the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court, which had found that the administrative offence proceedings concerning the non-compete agreement between EDP and Sonae were time-barred.
In its judgment of 15 July 2026, the Court of Appeal concluded that the limitation period had not expired. According to the judgment: "The limitation period applicable to the administrative offences for which the appellants were sanctioned would only have expired on 7 December 2024. As the judgment imposing the sanctions became final and binding on 17 October 2024 [...] it is clear that the alleged limitation of the administrative offence proceedings had not occurred."
As submitted by the AdC in its appeal, the Court of Appeal held that the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court had failed to give effect to the binding force of the final judgment (res judicata) by excluding from the calculation of the limitation period the statutory suspensions introduced under legislation adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court of Appeal had previously ruled that those suspensions were applicable in these proceedings.

Background
On 4 May 2017, the AdC adopted an infringement decision finding EDP – Energias de Portugal, S.A., EDP Comercial – Comercialização de Energia, S.A., Sonae Investimentos, SGPS, S.A., Sonae MC – Modelo Continente SGPS, S.A. and Modelo Continente Hipermercados, S.A. liable for entering into a non-compete agreement.
On 30 September 2020, the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court upheld the AdC's decision and imposed fines totalling more than EUR 34 million.
The undertakings appealed that judgment to the Lisbon Court of Appeal, which, on 5 April 2021, referred questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling.
On 26 October 2023, the Court of Justice delivered its judgment, endorsing the interpretation advanced by both the AdC and the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court. Following that judgment, the Lisbon Court of Appeal, on 19 February 2024, upheld in full the finding of infringement. That judgment became final and binding on 17 October 2024.
In March 2026, the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court ruled that the proceedings were time-barred. The AdC and the Public Prosecutor's Office appealed that judgment.
In its latest judgment, the Lisbon Court of Appeal held that the question of whether the statutory suspensions of the limitation period should be taken into account had already been finally determined in the proceedings and could not therefore be re-examined by the lower court. It accordingly set aside the appealed judgment.