Reforming the Act on Competition Restrictions
An effective competition policy requires functioning and up-to-date tools available for addressing harmful restraints on competition. The Act on Competition Restrictions contains provisions concerning procedures restricting competition between entrepreneurs and prohibits cartels and the misuse of a dominant market position.
On 13 June 2007, a working group was appointed by Mauri Pekkarinen, Ministry of Trade and Industry, to identify the need to reform the Act on Competition Restrictions and to prepare a proposal for the required amendments. The working group is chaired by Kristian Tammivuori, Government Counsellor in the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, and its mandate extends until the end of 2008.
The current Act on Competition Restrictions entered into force on 1 September 1992 and, subsequently, it has seen many amendments, often extensive in terms of their content. In the main, the current Act is considered a functional one, but several amendments have weakened its structure. However, its reform requirements also concern its content. The working group shall evaluate reform needs regarding issues such as the supervision of mergers and acquisitions, rules within procedures applied in restriction issues and the functioning and development of the current decision-making and sanction systems.
