EU regulators look to streamline antitrust rules

Regulatorsarelooking to updaterules, which target companies abusing their market power and those setting up illegal cartels, to make them more efficient,EUantitrustchief Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday.

Under therules, known as Regulation 1/2003 and in force since 2004, theEuropean Commission has taken on Alphabet unit Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Intel and imposed billions ofeuros in fines.

Theruleshave also allowed theEUcompetition enforcer to go after car parts cartels, banks' manipulation of financial benchmarks and other illegal price-fixing groups, putting theEUagency in the forefront ofantitrustenforcement.

The Commission wants to maintain its leading position, Vestager said.

"I'm announcing today that in the coming months we are going to launch an evaluation of Regulation 1/2003, the central plank of ourantitrustenforcement framework," Vestager told a conference organised by economic consultancy CRA.

"It is important that we hear the views of stakeholders concerning what has worked well, and where there is scope for more efficient and effective procedures and enforcement tools; making sure Regulation 1 is truly 'fit for the digital age'," she said.

Vestager said the updatedruleswould seek to make them more operational and useful to businesses.

Such procedural changes would relate to requests for information sent to companies, dawn raids, oral hearings where companies seek to defend their cases and the 10% cap on fines levied for breach ofrulesor non-compliance.

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