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ARTICLE · 29 SEPTEMBER 2023

New Competition Enforcement Regime Comes Into Force In Ireland

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27 September 2023 marked the commencement date for the Competition (Amendment) Act 2022 (the "2022 Act"). The 2022 Act implements the ECN+ Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1)...

IrelandAntitrust/Competition Law
Diarmaid Gavin
Diarmaid Gavin
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Introduction

27 September 2023 marked the commencement date for the Competition (Amendment) Act 2022 (the "2022Act"). The 2022 Act implements the ECN+ Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1) in Ireland (which is designed ensure that member state national competition authorities (NCAs) have similar powers for investigations and enforcement across the EU) and introduces an administrative sanctions regime as well as making changes to merger control regime.

New Enforcement Powers

(1) Administrative Fines

The 2022 Act marks a radical change to the enforcement of competition law in Ireland. Ireland has long been an outlier amongst EU NCAs in that the Irish authorities (the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission ("CCPC") and ComReg (in the telecoms sector)) lacked the power to impose administrative fines for breaches of EU and Irish competition law. Heretofore, fines could only be imposed for breaches of competition law by a court in criminal proceedings, which

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