The competition law regime

Introduction

Irish competition law has undergone rapid transformation in the last fifteen years. This transformation has been parallel to an unprecedented period of growth with GDP rising by 9.6 per cent between 1994 and 2000. A small, open economy located within the EU, Ireland has been described as an outpost of the US economy at the periphery of Europe with US firms accounting for more than 80 per cent of foreign direct investment in the late 1990s. A number of factors contributed to this growth, one of which was the creation of the single European market. The promise of increased competition from imports and the opportunities for export provided by an integrated European market were the main impetus for reform of the competition regime with the Competition Act 1991 replacing a ‘control of abuse’ system with a prohibition system modelled on EC competition rules (specifically, Articles 81 and 82). The Act combined substantive rules similar to those of the EC regime with weak enforcement mechanisms including an emphasis on private actions. It was subject to two major waves of reform. First, in the Competition (Amendment) Act 1996 stronger enforcement mechanisms were introduced including criminal sanctions for breaches of the main statutory prohibitions. Second, a wide interpretation had been given to the Act by the Competition Authority to include mergers even though they were subject to separate mergers legislation that required notification and ministerial approval in the light of a public interest test.