By Ricardo Bordalo Junqueiro

The current Portuguese competition law framework is provided by the Competition Act,2 which is applicable to all economic activities in the private, public and cooperative sectors. Article 11 of the Competition Act, mirroring Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),3 prohibits the abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position in the domestic market or in a substantial part of it.

Article 12, without precedent in the European Union competition legal framework, prohibits the abuse of economic dependence. This is the case where one or more undertakings abuse the economic dependence under which any of their suppliers or customers may find themselves as a result of no equivalent alternative being available, to the extent that such a practice affects the way the market or competition operates. Infringements of this nature have rarely been found by the competition enforcer.