Competition Law in Italy The first 20 years of law and practice

inding opinion of the Communications Authority (Autorità per le Garanzie nelle
Comunicazioni).
The Competition Law does not provide for either criminal sanctions or treble damage
awards. Individuals or companies can, however, bring actions before the civil courts for
damages deriving from infringement of the Competition Law.
B. Overview of Applicable Statutes
The Competition Law resembles EU competition law. In particular, Sections 2 and 4 of
the Competition Law resemble Article 101(1) and (2) and Article 101(3) TFEU (ex Articles
81 and 82 TEC), 2
respectively, whereas Section 3 closely resembles Article 102 TFEU.
Sections 5 and 7 contain a number of provisions on mergers, including definitions of
concerntration, the dominance test, and the concept of control. These provisions largely
correspond to Sections 2 and 3 of the European Union Merger Control Regulation, Council
Regulation No. 4064/89.
Presidential Decree No. 217 of April 30, 1998 (Decree No. 217/1998) contains detailed
provisions governing proceedings before the Competition Authority and, in particular, the
Competition Authority’s powers of inquiry and the parties’ rights of defense, including the
right of access to files and to participate in the proceedings. Other relevant procedural
provisions are contained in Law No. 241 of August 7, 1990 (Law No. 241/1990), which
provides a general framework for administrative procedures (such as those carried out by the
Competition Authority) and sets forth a general right of access to documents retained by
administrative bodies.
Furthermore, pursuant to Section 31 of the Competition Law, the general principles
governing administrative sanctions set forth under the first two sections of Law No. 689 of
November 24, 1981 (Law No. 689/1981) apply, as far as compatible, to fines levied by the
Competition Authority.
Special substantive provisions apply to the movie and communications industries. These
provisions are contained in Law No. 153 of March 1, 1994 (Law No. 153/1994), which
safeguards competition in the movie industry; and Law No. 249 of July 31, 1997 (Law No.
249/1997), which precludes dominant positions and enhances pluralism in the area of
communications. The concept of dominant position under Law No. 249/1997 does not
correspond to that adopted under the Competition Law.
Authority decisions are normally published in full within 20 days of their adoption in the
Bollettino dell’Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (the “Bulletin”). Since
1993, the Bulletin is published weekly. A full text version of all the decisions is also
available on the Authority’s official website. 3
Finally, the Authority releases an annual
report on its activities. This report is an important and well-structured source of information
on its decisional practice and policy.
2 TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNION AND THE TREATY ON THE FUNCTIONING OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
2010 O.J. (C83) [hereinafter TFEU].
3
The Competition Authority’s website is available at http://www.agcm.it.
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