Between the end of 2016 and last Thursday, the Competition Authority (AdC) imposed fines worth 1.4 billion euros, an amount related to 38 judgments. They are indicators of the balance of activity on the day that marks six years since the beginning of Margarida Matos Rosa’s tenure as president of the institution.
In the six years, and in the context of the investigation and punishment of anti-competitive practices, according to information, 35 searches and seizures were carried out, 26 notices of illegality issued and 17 leniency applications answered. provided at the request of Dinheiro Vivo.
The regulator acted in several domains, although one of the most targeted sectors was distribution, with different media processes. One of them was imposed unprecedented fines of 304 million euros on six supermarket chains, two beverage suppliers and two persons responsible for crimes of indirect price fixing with consumers.
Another case was that of the banking cartel, involving 11 banks, with a global fine of 225 million euros for exchanging information on mortgages, consumer and business loans.
But football was also under scrutiny, with a total fine of 11.3 million euros imposed on Liga Portugal and the 31 clubs in the I and II leagues for anti-competitive practices in the labor market, after the clubs of the two professional championships decided not to hire players in 2020 who unilaterally quit for reasons related to the pandemic.
Companies in the energy, telecommunications, insurance or health sectors were also targeted, always with a view to “the proper functioning of the market economy and consumer protection”.
In the event of completion of merger or acquisition operations prior to the consideration and approval of the AdC (jump gun), resulted in fines of three million euros, six convictions and 36 investigations.
An example of such a case was that of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, which was fined 2.5 million euros for taking over CVP-Sociedade de Gestão Hospitalar without prior notification to the AdC.
In terms of promoting competition, the AdC estimates that 164 studies, recommendations and opinions have been carried out in sectors as diverse as the fintechnatural gas, hemodialysis, ports and passenger transport.
Teresa Costa is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
