Competition Law in Italy

Updated on Thursday 15th March 2018

Rate this article

based on 1 reviews.

The legislation on competition has as the main purpose maintaining the market competition amongst companies operating in Italy. It enforces anti-competitive regulations and it is also known as anti-trust law. The Italian legislation on competition was recently modified, following the European Union’s Directives on this matter. Our team of Italian lawyers can advise foreign businessmen on the main competition regulations applicable to companies conducting business activities on the country’s territory.

New regulations on competition in Italy

At the beginning of 2017, on January 19th, the Italian authorities passed the Legislative Decree No. 3/2017, which became applicable starting with February 3rd, 2017. The Decree refers to private damage actions that arise from violations deriving from competition activities. Furthermore, the law established new regulations related to standard procedures for compensating victims of the competition violations, and it refers to both individual and collective damages which have occurred in Italy or at the level of the European Union (EU). Our team of lawyers in Italy can assist with further information on the new Decree on competition.

Further on, in August 2017, the Italian Parliament approved the Annual Market and Competition Law, which will become applicable this autumn.

The legislation has as a main target the following:

• removing regulatory obstacles;

• promoting competition;

• guarantee consumer protection.

The new rule of law establishes regulations for specific business sectors and it imposes new procedures for mergers.

Competition regulations for mergers in Italy

Under the new regulations, mergers are imposed with a new threshold available for the merger control notification regime. In this sense, the Italian Competition Authority has to be notified in the following conditions:

• the aggregate national turnover of the companies involved in a merger is above EUR 492 million;

• the aggregate national turnover of at least two companies is above EUR 30 million.

At the same time, the competition legislation removed the Most Favored Nation clauses for companies operating in the accommodation industry.

Investors are invited to contact our law firm in Italy for legal assistance concerning the Italian competition law.