EU competition law can address anti-competitive agreements and concerted practices between companies pursuant to Article 101 TFEU and the abuse by a company of a dominant position pursuant to Article 102 TFEU. However, certain structural competition problems fall outside the scope of these rules or cannot be tackled in the most effective manner (risks of tipping, structural market failures, etc.)
The Commission published an inception impact assessment and an open public consultation inviting comments on a proposed new competition tool to address these issues.
The Commission is consulting stakeholders in the public and private sectors, including competition authorities and government bodies, academia, as well as legal and economic practitioners.
Stakeholders can submit their views on the inception impact assessment by 30 June 2020 and respond to the open public consultation by 8 September 2020.
Subject to the outcome of the impact assessment, a legislative proposal is scheduled for Q4 2020.