Relevant legislation and statutory standards

Prior to October 1998 there was no effective merger control regime in Finland. Even though the Finnish Competition Authority (FCA) could request companies to notify concentrations, this had only an informative function as the FCA did not have any powers to take measures concerning such concentrations. EC merger control had a limited influence on concentrative arrangements involving Finnish companies.

The Finnish merger control rules introduced in 1998 can currently be found in Chapter 3a of the Act on Competition Restrictions (480/1992, as amended) (‘the Competition Act’). The notification thresholds were changed and some other merger control aspects streamlined as from 1 May 2004.

Related legislation irstly includes provisions on the functions and powers of the authorities, inter alia the Act on the Finnish Competition Authority (711/1998, as amended), the Decree on the Finnish Competition Authority (66/1993, as amended) and the Market Court Act (1527/2001, as amended). Secondly, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy (formerly the Ministry of Trade and Industry) has issued two decisions on the application of Finnish merger control: one on the information to be provided in the notiication form, and the other on turnover calculation. Thirdly, the FCA has issued two notices on concentration control.