PORTUGAL LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Joana Torres Fernandes, José Manuel Pereira da Costa, Danielle Avidago, Javier Mateo, António Pratas Nunes, Joana Loureiro Veríssimo, Madalena Mourão and David Serras Pereira, LVP Advogados
pensions), a non-opposition decision is considered to have occurred. In phase two, PCA must conduct a hearing of the parties (a procedural step that is usually initiated by the issuance of a draft final decision) within 75 working days from notification. By the end of the phase two PCA must decide: • not to oppose the concentration (with or without commitments offered by the notifying parties); or • to prohibit the concentration, prescribing appro - priate measures, should the concentration have already occurred. 6.3 Cartels PCL establishes the general competition legal frame - work concerning anticompetitive agreements and abuses of dominant position. This law applies to all economic activities carried out, whether on a per - manent or occasional basis, in the private, public and cooperative sectors. PCL shall be interpreted in accordance with European Union Law and consider - ing the case law of the Court of Justice of the Euro - pean Union. Regarding restrictive agreements and similar practic - es, PCL prohibits, in Article 9, agreements between undertakings, concerted practices and decisions by associations of undertakings which have as their pur - pose or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition. Said agreements between undertak - ings may be legally binding agreements, informal agreements or simple arrangements between under - takings. In regards to concerted practices, they generally involve fixing market conditions and business actions taken in parallel, for instance through a sudden and simultaneous rise in prices for a given product. As with Article 101 of the TFEU, PCL provides exam - ples of restrictive practices. • Direct or indirect fixing of purchase or selling prices or of any other trade conditions. • Limitation or control over production, the distribu - tion, technical development or investments. • Sharing of markets or sources of supply.
• Application to trade partners of dissimilar condi - tions to equivalent transactions, therefore placing them in disadvantage in the competition. • Make the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts. • Establishing, within the scope of the supply of goods or accommodation services in tourist devel - opments or local accommodation establishments, that the other contracting party or any other entity may not offer, on electronic platforms or in physical establishments, prices or other sales conditions for the same good or service that are more advanta - geous than those practiced by an intermediary operating through an electronic platform. Similarly to what is provided by Article 101 (3) of TFEU, in accordance with Article 10 of the PCL, any restric - tive practice under the terms of article nine (agree - ments between undertakings, concerted practices and decisions by associations of undertakings which have as their purpose or effect the prevention, restric - tion or distortion of competition) may be deemed jus - tified when it contributes to improve the production or distribution of goods or services or to promote technical or economic development, provided that, cumulatively, they: • offer the users of such goods or services a fair part of the benefit arising therefrom; • do not impose to the undertakings concerned any restrictions that are not indispensable to the attain - ment of such objectives; and • do not grant such undertakings the opportunity to suppress the competition in a substantial part of the goods or services market at stake. As to the public interest defence/importance, it is established by Article 4 of the PCL that the undertak - ings that have been legally entrusted with the man - agement of services of general economic interest, or are by their nature legal monopolies, are subject to the provisions of the PCL, to the extent that enforcement of these provisions does not create an obstacle to the fulfilment of their specific mission.
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