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ACM is awarded four stars in annual rating of competition authorities worldwide

Like the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) in 2011, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in 2012 was awarded four stars (out of a potential five) in the annual rating of competition authorities worldwide by international competition-law journal the Global Competition Review (GCR). Chris Fonteijn, Chairman of the Board of ACM, reacts: ‘This is a tremendous achievement, especially considering the transition we underwent towards the new authority ACM, a process that asked much of all NMa employees.’

According to the GCR, antitrust lawyers were concerned about the transition potentially having a negative impact on the NMa’s work. “But the statistics speak otherwise. Despite fewer staff and a budget reduced by €1.1 million, the authority maintained its enforcement levels in its final year of operation,” the GCR report said. With its four-star rating, ACM is in the top ten of best performing competition authorities.

Criticism is raised as well, as antitrust lawyers argue that the NMa/ACM has lost some of its independence. An example thereof is the fact that the Dutch government included in its coalition agreement a target figure for fines that the NMa/ACM was expected to collect. Mr. Fonteijn comments: ‘That target figure for fines is no longer relevant, which has been confirmed by the Minister of Economic Affairs.’ However, antitrust lawyers do worry that the authority’s independence is affected nonetheless.

The GCR publishes an annual rating of competition authorities from 38 countries. The number of stars awarded to each authority is determined by GCR editors, based on analyses of opinions of a carefully selected panel of antitrust lawyers, corporate lawyers, economists, and on data provided by the competition authorities themselves.