General guidelines of the Competition Authority
E.U. & Antitrust Newsletter Portugal
The economy is slowing down, but not stopping. The Competition Authority encourages all companies to continue with their business, while respecting the rules of competition.
A large part of those collaborating with the Authority are working from home, and the Competition Authority recalled that it has electronic means available to interact with the citizens. According to its guidelines, all correspondence with the Competition Authority should also be sent to the email address [email protected]
The Competition Authority is keeping all its telephones fully operational. In exceptional circumstances, in those cases strictly necessary and unavoidable, there may be face-to-face meeting, subject, however, to a prior appointment.
The Competition Authority Board also publicly stated that, in these times of crisis, it will be paying particular attention to any breaches of competition rules, as any actions harming healthy competition on the market, bearing in mind the current context, will undoubtedly have a more harmful impact on consumers. This means that any fines imposed due to breaches taking place at this time will very probably be particularly high.
Furthermore, despite Act nº 1-A/2020 establishing the suspension of procedural and processing periods, the Competition Authority will continue with any cases in progress.