Ricardo Bordalo Junqueiro (partner) writes an opinion article for Jornal Económico newspaper, on the strengthening of the Competition Authority powers.

"Competition is essential, but so is the rule of law. The challenge is to strike the right balance between the two. The proposed standard is far from achieving this.
The Draft Proposal for the transposition of the so-called ECN+ Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council is currently under public consultation. This is a set of rules that aims to harmonize competition laws in the European Union and strengthen the powers of the Member States' competition authorities. I have already had the opportunity to draw attention to the importance of public reflection on the proposals under discussion. The strengthening of the investigative powers of the Competition Authority and the worsening of the penalty framework applicable to the companies require this. An Authority with increasingly strong powers to investigate breaches of rules with an increasingly cumbersome framework of sanctions cannot be achieved without a broad and in-depth public debate".

Click here to read the article.