In March 2003 the government appointed a three-member Board of Directors for the new Competition Authority (see www.practicallaw.com/a29642 “Competition Authority's Board of Directors”). Although the statute enacting the new competition regime has already been discussed in Parliament, its approval has been delayed. The publication of the new regime will bring to an end the current transitional phase of national competition law enforcement. One of the challenges that the new Authority will have to address is the cooperation with national regulatory authorities in different economic areas, notably the supervisory institutions in the financial and telecommunications sectors. In his opening speech the Chairman of the Competition Authority has expressed his intention to enter into cooperation protocols with sectoral regulatory authorities, which seems to indicate that this will be an immediate and strong concern of the new Authority.

Source: Mário Marques Mendes, Luís Domingos Morais, Marques Mendes & Associados email: [email protected]