Annual Overview – Portuguese Competition Law Enforcement

In relation to the PCA's broad hub-and-spoke investigation alone (nine infringement decisions adopted since 2020), fines have totaled €681 million. The court appeal stage of these cases began in October 2022.

1. The most activist period of the PCA's existence has resultedinrecord fines.

During the term of the current PCA executive, there has been a significant uptick in the PCA's enforcement output. The headline figure - total fines - is in the region of over ?1.5bn since 2016. More than €1bn of that amount related to fining decisions since 2019. In relation to the PCA's broad hub-and-spoke investigation alone (nine infringement decisions adopted since 2020), fines have totaled €681 million. The court appeal stage of these cases began in October 2022, and we should see developments in 2023. Portugal appears to be the EU Member State with the greatest hub and spoke enforcement record to date. It will be interesting to see how and to what extent the PCA decisions