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Draft bill submitted to the Council on Legislation regarding a proposal for enhanced powers of the Swedish Competition Authority

In a draft bill submitted to the Council on Legislation, the Government proposes that the Swedish Competition Authority's decision-making powers should be extended and also include deciding on matters relating to administrative fines.

The draft bill submitted to the Council on Legislation also includes proposals regarding legislative changes which would, among others, enhance the Swedish Competition Authority’s powers in connection with unannounced inspections and introduce an investigative fine, i.e. a sanction against companies that defy the Competition Authority's decisions during an investigation of a suspected infringement.

The Competition Authority currently has the right to decide, inter alia, on issues regarding mergers, and may order undertakings to terminate competition law infringements. As the EU directive on enhanced powers for competition authorities is in the process of being implemented in Swedish law, further steps are being taken to enhance the Competition Authority's powers. The Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority, Rikard Jermsten welcomes the proposals.

– Enhanced decision-making powers and the stricter rules resulting from the implementation of the Directive will provide the conditions for efficiency gains in the handling of competition cases. This means we will be better placed to conduct clear, effective and legally certain enforcement to ensure compliance with the competition rules. The enhanced powers will also facilitate international cooperation with other competition authorities in the EU, says Rikard Jermsten.

The legislative amendments are proposed to enter into force on 4 February 2021.

For further information, please contact:

Marie Strömberg Lindvall, Communications Officer, +46 (0)76 542 15 92, marie.stromberglindvall@kkv.se

Last updated: 2021-05-31

Press release2 october 2020