The Competition in Review 2024 and Perspectives for 2025, published by Morais Leitão’s European Law and Competition team, provides an in-depth and rigorous analysis of the most significant developments in Portuguese and EU competition law over the past year, as well as key trends to watch for in 2025.
The publication highlights a rapidly evolving legal and economic landscape, where traditional competition law topics such as restrictive practices, abuse of dominance, merger control, State aid, and private enforcement are increasingly intertwined with new regulatory, digital, environmental and labour-related dimensions. Authorities and courts are clearly shifting towards a preventive and accountability-focused approach, requiring companies to continuously adapt to a more complex and demanding legal framework.
Key highlights from this edition:
- Antitrust: the leniency programme may not be appropriate if the legal assessment of the practice is unclear. On the other hand, Portuguese courts clarified the limits of the Competition Authority’s (PCA) investigative powers, particularly in relation to the protection of legal professional privilege. Both the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court reaffirmed the requirement for prior judicial authorisation in evidence gathering, strengthening the procedural safeguards of those under investigation.
- Dominance: The European Commission released updated draft guidlelines on exclusionary practices by dominant companies, following the latest case law. The EU Court of Justice reaffirmed the assessment criteria in cases such as Google Shopping and clarified the legal tests applicable to practices like self-preferencing and refusals to grant access to essential inputs.
- Merger control: The Portuguese Competition Authority reviewed several sector-relevant transactions, imposing commitments in cases such as Live Nation/Arena Atlântico and VASP/VASP Premium. At the EU level, the ECJ’s decision on Illumina ended this saga by rejecting Commission’s position on the review of non-notifiable transactions, with significant implications for legal certainty in deal-making.
- State Aid: 2024 saw significant changes to European Union State aid regulations. Relevant changes include, inter alia, the increase of aid ceilings and the strengthening of transparency measures.
- Sustainability agreements: The new Horizontal Guidelines issued by the Commission include a dedicated chapter on sustainability-driven cooperation. However, the continued requirement to demonstrate direct consumer benefits still limits the scope for recognising broader environmental or social gains.
- Labour market: There is growing attention from competition authorities on potentially anticompetitive practices in labour markets, such as no-poach and wage-fixing agreements. In this context, internal compliance and training measures are increasingly critical.
- Digital regulation and data sharing: The entry into force of the Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Markets Act (DMA) and AI Act marks a turning point in EU digital regulation. These instruments introduce a more preventive approach, requiring companies to ensure transparency, proportionality in data processing, and full respect for fundamental rights.
- Private enforcement of competition law: The Portuguese courts taken a more favourable stance towards plaintiffs in this type of cases. Also, the concept of the “undertaking” (or economic unit), initially developed in public enforcement, is now gaining traction in private damages litigation. Recent case law, in particular Sumal, Volvo and MOL, reflects an evolving framework that still lacks full procedural clarity, raising concerns about balance between parties and the effectiveness of leniency programmes.
The publication features contributions from Joaquim Vieira Peres, Luís Nascimento Ferreira, Eduardo Maia Cadete, Pedro de Gouveia e Melo, Phillip Melcher, Inês Gouveia, Catarina Vieira Peres, Dzhamil Oda, Gonçalo Rosas, Inês Ferrari Careto, Inês F. Neves, Beatriz Lopes da Silva, Rita Ferreira Gomes, Joana Fraga Nunes, Luísa Amaro de Matos and Tiago Ramos Cunha.
These challenges require that companies engage with competition compliance proactively and strategically, aligning legal risk management with technological innovation, ESG commitments, and reputational resilience.
Read the full document in the attachment below.