Post Archive by Month

I. Introduction The Law no. 17/2022, of August 17, (the “Law”) transposed into national law the Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 11 December 2018, which aims to empower the competition authorities of the Member States to apply the law more effectively and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market. In this regard, the Law has changed: i) The Competition Legal Regime (the “Legal Regime”), approved by Law no. 19/2012, of May 8; and ii) The Statutes of the Competition Authority. In the scope of the referred Legal Regime, the Law has amended several provisions, systematically divided as follows: Chapter I – Promotion and defence of competition (articles 2.º, 3.º, 5.º, 7.º, 8.º); Chapter II – Anti-competitive practices (articles 13.º to 19.º, 21.º to 25.º, 27.º to 35.º); Chapter III – Merger operations (articles 43.º, 49.º, 55.º and 59.º); Chapter IV – Studies, inspections and audits (article 64.º); Chapter VII – Infringements and sanctions (articles 67.º to 69.º, 72.º to 74.º); Chapter VIII – Waiver or reduction of fines in competition law infringement proceedings (articles 76.º to 81.º); Chapter IX – Judicial appeals (articles 84.º to 87.º, 89.º to 92.º); and Chapter … Read More

I.INTRODUCTION Portugal is an Iberian Peninsula country, bordered by the Atlantic to the west and south and Spain to the north and east. In addition to its continental landmass, it also comprises the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira. Portugal has around 10.3 million inhabitants. Portuguese territory is split up into three administrative divisions: the first division includes 18 administrative country districts, while the others include the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira. All country districts are sub-divided into 308 municipal districts and approximately 3,100 parishes. Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and its largest city with approximately 545,000 inhabitants and head of a metropolitan area of 18 municipalities with 2.5 million inhabitants. Portugal’s second and third largest cities are Sintra, in Lisbon metropolitan area and Vila Nova de Gaia, in the Oporto metropolitan area, with approximately 385,000 and 303,000 inhabitants, respectively. Portugal is a democracy. Its sovereign bodies are the President of the Republic, Assembly of the Republic, Government, and the Courts. The current President of the Republic (and head of state), re-elected in 2021 for a five-year term, is Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Elections for the 230 deputies of the Assembly of the Republic are held every … Read More