Sweden’s Competition Authority has revealed details of changes to its merger procedures ahead of its receipt of powers to directly block deals.
Parliament has passed a government bill, giving the Competition Authority greater decision-making powers in relation to notified mergers in Sweden.
The Swedish Competition Authority is one of the few competition authorities in the European Union that lacks its own decision-making powers and adheres to a judicial model. Following the legislative amendments, the authority will be able to block notified mergers and its decision-making powers will therefore be similar to those of the European Commission.
The legislative amendments to the Competition Act will enter into force on January 1, 2018. That means that concentrations notified after January 1, 2018, will fall under the new regime.
The amendments mean a shift in the decision-making power from the courts to the authority. This gives rise to certain consequential changes:
- The amendment will allow the authority to independently decide whether the requirement of “exceptional reasons” is fulfilled to extend Phase II of the investigation without the consent of the parties.
- Although the timeframe for investigation and issuing a decision are the same, it has been clarified that the two-year limit within which a merger can be prohibited applies to the authority’s decision rather than the courts’ decisions. Court proceedings can take an additional nine months.
- A prohibition will have immediate effect, unless otherwise decided by the authority. The authority’s decision can be appealed to the Patent and Market Court.
- The authority will no longer be obliged to send a draft decision to the parties before issuing a prohibition decision. This has been subject to criticism, and it has been stated that an obligation for the authority to communicate a draft decision will be included in provisions to be issued by the government.
It will still be possible for the authority to order a merger to be notified due to the existence of “particular reasons.” In theory, this means that such an order may be issued up to two years after the transaction.
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