Commission seeks feedback for the revision of EU antitrust enforcement framework

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

The European Commission is launching today a Call for Evidence and a public consultation inviting stakeholders to give feedback on the future of the EU procedures for the application of EU competition rules. Based on the results of the evaluation, completed in September 2024 with the publication of a Staff Working Document, the Commission has decided to launch the process for revising the relevant rules, notably with the aim of keeping up with transformative changes such as digitalisation of the economy. All interested stakeholders can express their views by 2 October 2025.

Need for a revision

On 5 September 2024, the Commission published a Staff Working Document summarising the findings of the evaluation of Regulation 1/2003 and Regulation 773/2004 (together the ‘Regulations’). The evaluation showed that the Regulations have generally achieved their objective of effective, efficient and uniform application of EU competition rules, and that they continue to have EU added value and remain relevant. At the same time, the evaluation identified several areas for further reflection, including a need for faster investigations and adjustment of the Commission’s enforcement tools to keep up with transformative changes such as digitalisation. The evaluation also showed that, while the experience of parallel enforcement of EU competition rules with national competition authorities has been a success, the system could still benefit from some optimisation.

Based on these findings, the Commission concluded that a legislative revision would be necessary to address certain issues identified during the evaluation process.

Focus areas for the revision

The call for evidence will focus on the main areas the Commission is currently considering revising in the Regulations, with the objective of enhancing effective and speedy antitrust enforcement. This includes:

• the Commission’s investigative powers (specifically inspections, requests for information and interviews); certain aspects of its decision-making powers (specifically how we can adopt interim measures and commitments); the process for granting access to the Commission’s file, which is currently burdensome for parties, information providers and the Commission; the procedure for the participation of complainants and third parties in competition investigations; and
• how to optimise co-enforcement with national competition authorities and national courts.

The public consultation questionnaire will seek stakeholders’ views on the reform options, including detailed feedback on the costs and benefits of such possible reform options.

Stakeholder consultation and feedback

The Call for Evidence and public consultation will be open for 12 weeks, until 2 October 2025.

This Commission invites all stakeholders to express their views on the proposed policy options for reform. It will publish a summary of the main points and conclusions on the Commission’s ‘Have Your Say’ platform, where contributions will also be available. The Commission will also engage with EU national competition authorities via the European Competition Network (‘ECN’).

Later this year, the Commission will host a workshop, diving deeply into key issues based on the feedback gathered through the Call for Evidence and public consultation.

The feedback received from the consultation activities will inform the Commission’s reform proposal. The Commission aims at adopting the draft legislative proposal to revise Regulation 1/2003 and at publishing an Impact Assessment Report by September 2026.

Background

Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (‘TFEU’) prohibits agreements between companies that restrict competition. Article 102 TFEU prohibits abusive conduct by companies that have a dominant position on a particular market.

Regulation 1/2003 and Regulation 773/2004 establish a procedural framework aimed at ensuring the effective and uniform application of Articles 101 and 102 of the TFEU. At the time of its adoption, Regulation 1/2003 represented a major reform of the way EU antitrust rules were enforced. In particular, it: (i) introduced a system of direct application of antitrust rules, (ii) empowered Member States to apply all aspects of the rules, (iii) strengthened the cooperation between the Commission and the national competition authorities, and (iv) enhanced the enforcement tools for the Commission to be better equipped to detect and address breaches of the EU antitrust rules.

The evaluation of Regulation 1/2003 was part of a broader review in EU competition law launched in recent years. It also followed the Five-Year and Ten-Year reports on the functioning of Regulation 1/2003.

Stay informed

For more information, visit the Commission’s competition website and the dedicated Regulation 1/2003 revision webpage.