Belgium/EU, 2006

Score = 26

Governed by:' Belgian Law: Belgian Act on the Protection of Economic Competition (APEC) consolidated on the 15th of September 2006 ("the statute"). and EU Law: Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty Establishing the European Communities (Rome Treaty), Regulation 1/2003 of 16 December 2002

Category	Subcategory	Score	Comment
Scope	Extraterritoriality	1	EU Law (Rome Treater) governs whether conduct has effects on trade between Member States, pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation 1/2003.
Remedies	Fines	1	Articles 63 provides for fines for competition violations, and additional fines for violations that persist after the violators are ordered to stop.
	Prison Sentences	0
	Divestitures	1	Article 59 §7 of the statute states that anticompetitive mergers may be dissolved.
Private Enforcement	3rd Party Initiation	1	Art 44 §1 (2) states that prosecutors shall investigate complaints from interested third parties.
	Remedies Available to 3rd Parties	1	Articles 81 and 82 of the Rome Treaty mandate private enforcement, encouraged by the European Commission
	3rd Party Rights in Proceedings	1	Article 48 §5 says that the Council shall hear the complainant's testimony for competition violations, if the complainant wishes to testify. Article 57 §2 allows interested third parties to be heard in merger hearings.
Merger Notification	Voluntary	0
	Mandatory	3	Article 8 §1 says the concentrations involving large companies shall be subject to the prior consent of the Competition Council.
	Pre-merger	2	Articles 8 §1 and 9 §1 says the concentrations shall be subject to the prior consent of the Competition Council.
	Post-merger	0
Merger Assessment	Dominance	1	Article 8 §2(2) states that mergers that limit competition through strengthening of a dominant position are impermissible.
	Restriction of Competition	1	Article 8 §2(1) state that mergers that limit competition through strengthening of a dominant position are impermissible.
	Public Interest (Pro D)	1	Article 8 Article 8 §6 and Article 60 §1 both allow for consideration of the public interest in whether to permit a merger. Article 60 specifically allows an anticompetitive merger to take place if the Council of Ministers decides that its public benefits outweigh the harm to competition.
	Public Interest (Pro Authority)	0
	Other	0
	Efficiency	1	Article 8 §2(2) requires consideration of economic and technical progress in merger analysis.
Dominance	Limits Access	1	Article 82(b) of the Rome Treaty prohibits limiting access.
	Abusive Acts	1	Article 82 of the Rome Treaty prohibits abuse of dominant position.
	Price Setting	1	Article 82(a) of the Rome Treaty prohibits price setting.
	Discriminatory Pricing	1	Article 82(c) of the Rome Treaty prohibits discriminatory conditions.
	Resale Price Maintenance	1	Article 82(a) of the Rome Treaty prohibits resale price maintenance.
	Obstacles to Entry	1	Article 82 of the Rome Treaty prohibits anti-competitive pricing schemes.
	Efficiency Defense	0
Restrictive Trade Practices	Price Fixing	1	Article 81(1)(a) of the Rome Treaty prohibits price fixing.
	Tying	1	Article 81(1)(e) of the Rome Treaty prohibits tying.
	Market Division	1	Article 81 of the Rome Treaty prohibits customer allocation clauses.
	Output Restraint	1	Article 81(1)(b) of the Rome Treaty prohibits limiting production.
	Market Sharing	1	Article 81(1)(c) of the Rome Treaty prohibits market sharing.
	Eliminating Competitors	1	Article 81(1) of the Rome Treaty prohibits agreements that have the purpose or effect of eliminating competition.
	Collusive Tendering/Bid-Rigging	1	Article 81 of the Rome Treaty prohibits bid-rigging.
	Supply Refusal	1	Article 81(1)(b) of the Rome Treaty prohibits supply refusal.
	Efficiency Defense	1	Article 81(3) of the Rome Treaty allows an efficiency defense.