Background
On 28 March 2013, the Federal Parliament in Belgium has adopted
two Laws (the « Laws") which were recently published in
the Belgian Official Gazette (on 26 April 2013). They are designed
to reform competition law and price control in Belgium.
The amended Laws are expected to enter into force in September
of this year.
The amended Competition Act constitutes Book IV of the new Code
of Business and Economic Law (Wetboek van economisch recht / Code
de droit économique).
The main changes to the Competition Act are the following:
A new authority
The Competition Authority will be transformed into a single,
independent administrative body, composed of an investigative arm
and a decision-making arm. The College of Competition Prosecutors
(Auditoraat/Auditorat) will oversee the investigative phase, while
final decisions will be taken by the Competition Board
(Mededingingscollege / Collège de la Concurrence).
