Netherlands/EU, 2007

Score =

Governed by: EU law: Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty Establishing the European Communities (Rome Treaty) , Regulation 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 and Law no. 1997/242 of 22 May 1997 as last amended on 1 October 2007 (hereinafter referred to as “Competition Act”).

Category	Subcategory	Score	Comment
Scope	Extraterritoriality	1	The Competition Act applies to any company or violation that has a substantial effect on Dutch competition regardless of where it occurred.
Remedies	Fines	1	Articles 56, 69, 71-75 require fines for certain violations.
	Prison Sentences	0
	Divestitures	0
Private Enforcement	3rd Party Initiation	1	Third parties can rely on Articles 6(1) and 24(1) of the Competition Act to bring an action for damages or ask for an injunction.
	Remedies Available to 3rd Parties	1	Third parties can rely on Articles 6(1) and 24(1) of the Competition Act to bring an action for damages or ask for an injunction.
	3rd Party Rights in Proceedings	1	“Interested Parties” have several rights in the course of proceedings including the right to appeal and participate in the case.
Merger Notification	Voluntary	0
	Mandatory	3	Article 34 requires notification of concentrations to the director general.
	Pre-merger	2	Article 34 says that this notification must occur 4 weeks before the merger.
	Post-merger	0
Merger Assessment	Dominance	1	Articles 37(2) and 41(2) state that a merger may require further investigation if there is evidence that it will create a dominant position.
	Restriction of Competition	1	Articles 37(2) and 41(2) state that a merger may require further investigation if it may significantly restrict effective competition.
	Public Interest (Pro D)	1	Article 47(1) states that a Minister may allow an otherwise prohibited merger to go through if doing so is in the public interest.
	Public Interest (Pro Authority)	1	Article 41(3) considers whether one or both of the companies is “entrusted with the operation of a service of general economic interest” in which case the Commission must decide what effect allowing or not allowing the merger would have on their performance of that service.
	Other	0
	Efficiency	0
Merger Assessment	Dominance	1	Article 11d(1) of the Finnish Competition Act says that the Competition Council may ban a merger if it would strengthen a dominant position.
	Restriction of Competition	1	Article 11d(1) of the Finnish Competition Act allows the Competition Council to ban a merger which would significantly impede competition.
	Public Interest (Pro D)	0
	Public Interest (Pro Authority)	0
	Other	0
	Efficiency	0
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.