Changes at the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa)

A number of changes will take effect at the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) from 1 June. The NMa has a new Competition department, formed by the merger of the Competition Regulation and Concentration Control departments. At the same time one of the NMa's sector-specific regulators, the Office of Energy Regulation (DTe), has changed its name to the Office of Energy Regulation (Energiekamer). Changing the name (national) will not affect its international designation. This will remain the Office of Energy Regulation.

New Competition department

Bundling its knowledge on competition and merger regulation of the different markets will enable the NMa to better fulfil its tasks as regulator in the future. Merging the two departments offers important advantages. With regard to competition cases and merger cases there is now a single point of address for external parties like businesses and lawyers, rather than two 'counters'. The new department also hosts joint knowledge (and knowledge accrual) with regard to the sectors and as a result the NMa's market knowledge will reach new depths. The new structure offers more flexibility for high and low numbers of concentration cases.


The most important tasks of the new Competition department will be fighting cartel formation, combating the use of dominant positions and assessing mergers and takeovers. The NMa Board has appointed Gerard Bakker, formerly director of Competition Regulation, director of the new department. 'Our task is to ensure that markets are working properly,' Bakker says. 'We will therefore utilise every possibility to stimulate fair competition and in doing so contribute to consumer prosperity in the Netherlands.'


The new Competition department has five sectoral clusters: 1) Healthcare, 2) Agriculture, Industry and Construction, 3) Network sectors and Media, 4) Financial and professional services, and 5) Trade, Services and Transport. The department also contains an Investigation and Information cluster and a Competition Expertise cluster. This structure will allow the Competition department to respond decisively to developments in the economy and at the same time optimally utilise existing knowledge and expertise with regard to the various sectors and markets.



Office of Energy Regulation (DTe ) becomes Office of Energy Regulation (Energiekamer)

The NMa has also decided to rename the Office of Energy Regulation (DTe ) to the Office of Energy Regulation (Energiekamer), hereafter: Energiekamer, as of 1 June 2008. This decision was officially confirmed by the Minister of Economic Affairs with an amendment to the mandate regulation. The director of the Energiekamer, Peter Plug, is enthusiastic about the name change: 'This brings consistency to the naming of sector-specific regulatory bodies. Take the Office of Transport Regulation, for instance, also a division of the NMa. It also makes it immediately clear to the consumer that we focus on energy. Moreover the name Energiekamer (translated as Energy Chamber) also directly conveys that it is part of a larger whole, namely the NMa. Nothing will change with respect to the powers and responsibilities of course.'


The Energiekamer supervises compliance with the 1998 Electricity Act and the Gas Act. The Energiekamer has the task of fulfilling its regulatory role to ensure the energy markets function as effectively as possible. In the energy sector this means that access to the transmission networks is guaranteed, there is adequate transparency and consumer interests are safeguarded.


The Energiekamer also devotes a great deal of attention to providing practical information on the rights and obligations of the energy consumer via ConsuWijzer. ConsuWijzer is a cooperation between the NMa, the Consumer Authority and OPTA.