New Swiss Unilateral Conduct Rules Significantly Broadened

Parliament revises the Cartel Act and adopts the concept of "relative market power". Under the new law, prohibitions previously applicable only to dominant companies will be extended to companies with only "relative market power". At the same time, it introduces a geo-blocking ban.

Introduction

Parliament has adopted the counter-proposal to the Fair Price Initiative in today's final vote. The following amendments will be introduced:

Introduction of the Concept of "Relative Market Power"

The revision of the Cartel Act ("CartA") extends the prohibitions previously applicable only to dominant companies, such as the abusive refusal to supply goods or the abusive discrimination between trading partners in relation to prices (see para. 7 of the CartA), to companies with "relative market power". A company is considered to have "relative market power" if other companies depend on it with respect to the supply of or demand for a product or service in such a way that