Belgium, 2006

Score = 20

Governed by: Belgian Act on the Protection of Economic Competition (APEC) consolidated on the 15th of September 2006 ("the statute").

Category	Subcategory	Score	Comment
Scope	Extraterritoriality	1	Article 2 §1 of the statute applies to practices that affect the Belgian market.
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
	Remedies Available to 3rd Parties	0
	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 3(2) prohibits dominant parties from limiting production.
	Abusive Acts	1	Article 3 states that the abuse of a dominant position is prohibited, then provides a nonexhaustive list of offenses.
	Price Setting	1	Article 3(1) bans price setting by dominant firms.
	Discriminatory Pricing	1	Article 3(3) prohibits applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions.
	Resale Price Maintenance	0
	Obstacles to Entry	0
	Efficiency Defense	0
Restrictive Trade Practices	Price Fixing	1	Article 2 §1(1) of the statute prohibits price fixing agreements.
	Tying	1	Article 2 §1(5) and Article 3(4) prohibit tying.
	Market Division	1	Article 2 §1(2) prohibits limiting or controlling production, markets or investment.
	Output Restraint	1	Article 2 §1(2) prohibits agreements limiting production.
	Market Sharing	1	Article 2 §1(3) prohibits market sharing.
	Eliminating Competitors	0
	Collusive Tendering/Bid-Rigging	0
	Supply Refusal	0
	Efficiency Defense	1	Article 2 §3(3) allows some anticompetitive agreements if they promote efficiency, return a portion of the efficiency gains to consumers, and do not allow the undertakings to eliminate a substantial portion of their competitors.