Make EU antitrust procedural rules (Regulation 1/2003) fit for today and fit for the future.

BEP has called for an update to the procedural rules that govern the application of the EU’s antitrust rules.

The existing framework is now over 20 years old and has not kept up with the digital revolution and changes in business practices. The challenges of digitalisation and globalisation have limited the effectiveness and efficiency of the EU’s competition law procedures, which impacts on its ability to take meaningful enforcement action against harmful anti-competitive practices.

We have highlighted the need for speedier intervention in antitrust cases, given that cases can take upwards of three years to resolve (and even then they are appealed for at least another couple of years) and is therefore too slow to prevent and tackle problems in markets).

We have called for adjustments to the European Commission’s procedures to enable it to:

i) make faster decisions;

ii) make more use of existing tools to effectively protect competition; and,

iii) to be able to adopt effective remedies, particularly structural remedies, to bring about lasting changes to markets.

These procedural rules are the backbone of EU antitrust enforcement and they need to be fit for purpose if the EU’s competition rules are to have legitimacy in the modern world.