The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) will become more prominent in the enforcement of competition rules in Iceland in the future.

Dr Gjermund Mathiesen, Head of Competition at the ESA, gave a speech today at an open meeting of the Competition Authority on the application of competition rules in Iceland and the European Economic Area. The meeting was well attended, with over one hundred people in attendance, including representatives from business and government.

The ESA has an important role to play in resolving competition matters in Iceland. This is partly because the Icelandic competition authorities are required to apply the EEA Agreement's prohibition on illegal collusion and abuse of a dominant position (Articles 53 and 54 of the EEA Agreement), in parallel with the application of the corresponding provisions of the Icelandic Competition Act (Articles 10 and 11). The ESA monitors the adequate application of the EEA Agreement's provisions by the Icelandic competition authorities. The ESA can also take over cases under investigation or initiate investigations on its own initiative, where appropriate with searches in Iceland.

Penalties must include a sufficient deterrent effect.

Dr Mathiesen spoke in detail about fines for competition law infringements and emphasised the importance of them having a sufficient deterrent effect. He discussed several case precedents and reviewed the EC's guidelines on this subject. It would not be sufficient for fines to be high enough to stop a company's ongoing infringement; other companies must also learn the lesson that it is not worth breaking competition law.

He also reported on work within the European Commission aimed at better harmonising fine decisions and ensuring that fines are high enough to achieve the necessary deterrent effect.

ESA plans to become more prominent in Icelandic competition matters.

Dr Mathiesen reported that the ESA intended to become more prominent in competition matters in Iceland in the future. The institution had extensive jurisdiction in Icelandic business life, as the scope of the EEA Agreement's competition rules was interpreted very broadly.

He announced that the ESA would be more active in competition cases before Icelandic courts, as the institution is authorised to submit observations (amicus curiae) in the course of legal proceedings concerning EEA law.

Dr Mathiesen then considered it likely that the ESA would, on its own initiative, launch investigations into Icelandic companies, as it had done for years in Norway. There would be nothing to prevent such investigations.

Páll Gunnar Pálsson, Director-General of the Competition Authority:
The competition rules of the EEA Agreement and the enforcement of these by the ESA have been of great importance for the implementation of competition law in Iceland. The Competition Authority has had good cooperation with the ESA and considers it a very positive step if the ESA becomes more prominent in Icelandic competition matters in the future.

Measures to strengthen competition supervision and the independence of regulatory authorities in Europe

Dr Mathiesen also reported on work by the European Commission to better harmonise competition enforcement in individual countries and to increase the independence of competition authorities within the European Economic Area.  Further information about this work can be found here.

Slides from Gjermund Mathiesen's talk are available. here.

About the Competition Authority's seminar series:

The meeting is part of a series of meetings by the Competition Authority with business, government and other stakeholders, under the title „Dialogue on Competition“. The meetings are intended to be a forum for discussion on competition matters, where there is an opportunity to discuss what has been achieved and what the most pressing challenges are going forward. Through this, the Competition Authority is listening, providing guidance, and receiving perspectives from the business community, the government, and consumers.