BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s antitrust authority is to be granted greater powers to crack down on anti-competitive practices under plans agreed by the coalition government on Wednesday.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck, whose ministry drafted the legislation together with the justice ministry, said it was one of the biggest reforms of competition law in Germany in decades.
In future, the Federal Cartel Office will be able to order measures to address disruptions to the market following cross-sector probes. So far, such probes have so far culminated merely in a report from the office.
In addition, the government plans to make it easier to skim off the benefits that companies gain from antitrust violations.
The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) described the reform as a paradigm shift toward state market design if necessary.
“Lawful action no longer protects companies from state intervention as soon as the Federal Cartel Office, in its broad discretion, considers competition to be disturbed over a longer period of time,” the DIHK’s chief legal counsel Stephan Wernicke said of the plan.
“The amendment must worry companies in markets that are of particular political interest, for example in climate protection or the digital economy,” Wernicke added.
(Reporting by Rachel More, Editing by Friederike Heine)
