Amendments to the Competition framework during Troika times in Portugal. A soft tool for enhancing enforcement a decade before ECN+

On 21 May 2021, Portugal’s XXII Government submitted to Parliament a proposal of a law implementing the ECN+ Directive. Ten years earlier, the Portuguese authorities agreed on an Economic Adjustment Programme for Portugal with international creditors in the context of the formers’ request for financial assistance to the country. These creditors included the European Commission, which was entitled to ‘continued advice and guidance’ on the ‘ambitious agenda for structural reforms’, including the competition framework.

In 2014, paving the way for what would later be the 2017 proposal of the ECN+ Directive, the Commission qualified Economic Adjustment Programmes as one of the soft tools to achieve the aims of strengthening the powers of enforcement of the national competition authorities concerning EU competition rules, as well as increasing their independence and resources.

This paper seeks to systematise the indications of the impact of the Economic Adjustment Programme for Portugal on the anticipation of the reform of the Competition framework in line with the aims and goals of the ECN+ Directive. In my view, the acuteness of this reflection goes beyond the ongoing implementation of the ECN+ Directive; it may also be useful for the future amendment of the Competition Act and the Portuguese Competition Authority’s powers beyond the ECN+ Directive.