Competition

Issues concerning competition, freedom of trade and certain questions relating to business law as well as EC rules on state aid to the business sector.

The Competition Act

The Swedish Competition Act is modelled on the EU competition rules. It thus prohibits cooperation between companies that significantly limits or distorts competition. Examples of prohibited activities are price collaboration and market sharing between competing companies. The Act also prohibits companies with a dominant position on the market from abusing their strong position. It also includes provisions on the control of mergers between undertakings.

Block exemptions

Based on the EU model, Sweden has introduced a system of block exemptions for the type of agreements that normally fulfil the conditions for individual exemptions.

Modernisation of competition regulations

The Council of the European Union has adopted a new regulation with respect to implementation of the prohibition provisions in Articles 81 and 82 of the European Community Treaty. The consequences of this new implementing regulation for Swedish legislation have been examined in SOU 2003:73 "Reformerad konkurrensövervakning konsekvenser i Sverige av EG:s nya tillämpningsförordning".(Reforms in competition monitoring - consequences for Sweden of the new EU implementing regulation).