The Council of Ministers has approved a preliminary draft law on competition, put forward by the Minister of Economy.
This law pursues a dual objective. Firstly, it will allow the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) to support the European Commission in its fight against foreign subsidies that distort the internal market. This will help better protect our businesses and preserve our strategic autonomy.
In addition, Minister Clarinval intends to simplify and improve the BCA's procedures to make them faster, more efficient and more legally secure. This will notably involve strengthened cooperation between the BCA and other public authorities, such as the Economic Inspectorate.
With the same aim of increasing synergies between the authorities responsible in this area, a new cooperation protocol between the BCA and the FPS Economy departments will be signed in the coming weeks.
The aim of this protocol is to formalise and guarantee constructive cooperation between these departments, thereby avoiding overlapping powers and duplication of work. The minister intends to prevent situations such as the publication by the Price Observatory of a price comparison study in the food sector at the end of 2023, followed a month later by a study on the same subject published by the BCA.
This preliminary draft law and these actions for greater synergy are fully in line with the government's determination to strengthen public authorities and ensure healthy competition that supports the competitiveness of our businesses, while guaranteeing fairer prices for consumers.
David Clarinval, Minister of Economy: “I hear the call from businesses telling me that they are exposed to unfair competition due to dumping mechanisms. Giving more weight to the Belgian Competition Authority is a first step in maintaining our independence and strategic autonomy. And to be effective, the Authority must be able to act quickly, with modernised procedures and strengthened cooperation with other public control and sanction services. The competitiveness of Belgian businesses and the maintenance of production in Europe depend on this type of lever to guarantee healthy and fair competition on our internal and European markets, which are under heavy pressure.”