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ARTICLE · 24 MAY 2017

Belgian Competition Authority Publishes 2017 Enforcement Priorities

Van Bael & Bellis
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The BCA's policy note primarily concerns the first area.

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
Martin Favart
Martin Favart
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The Belgian Competition Authority (Belgische Mededingingsautoriteit / Autorité belge de la Concurrence) ("BCA") has published its policy priorities for 2017.

As in its previous policy notes (See e.g. VBB on Belgian Business Law, Volume 2016, No. 4, p. 4, available at www.vbb.com), the BCA first highlights the three main areas where the BCA contributes to the improvement of the functioning of the markets, namely (i) the launching of investigations and formal proceedings against infringements of Belgian and/ or European competition laws; (ii) merger control; and (iii) the pursuit of an informal competition policy through a broad range of actions.

The BCA's policy note primarily concerns the first area. Consistent with previous years, the BCA indicates that it takes into account four factors to assess the importance of a case:

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