A healthy and functioning economy depends on the existence of competition rules. Regulation 1/2003 and Regulation 773/2004 (the ‘Antitrust Procedural Framework’) originally came into force on 1 May 2004. They modernised the EU competition law landscape abolishing the system of notifying agreements for clearance to the Commission and enhancing the role of National Competition Authorities (‘NCAs’) and national courts in the application of Article 101 and Article 102.
Approaching its 20th year of existence, the Antitrust Procedural Framework, the time has come to determine whether there is a need to improve the framework. As an evaluation of the Antitrust Procedural Framework is particularly pertinent in light of the digitalisation of the economy and the Commission’s priority of creating a Europe that is fit for the digital age, DG COMP will be conducting an evaluation of the Regulations with the aim of assessing the Antitrust Procedural Framework and identifying whether there are aspects of this framework that merit an update to the Regulations.
Spark, together with Deloitte and VVA, will assist the Commission in this evaluation process, complementing the comprehensive public consultation that will be conducted by DG COMP itself. The objective of this study is thus to assess the Regulations in line with the Better Regulation Guidelines, by focusing on the following evaluation criteria:
- Relevance
- Effectiveness
- Efficiency
- Coherence
- EU added value
