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"Annual Report 2003"

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The Danish Competition Authority is an independent body under the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. The Authority is responsible for matters related to competition, energy regulation, public procurement and state aid. The Authority is the secretariat of the Danish Competition Council and the Danish Energy Regulatory Authority. The Danish Competition Authority performs a number of tasks in cooperation with the competition authority of the European Commission, the Directorate General for Competition.

1.1 Strategy

The Danish Competition Authority strongly supports the notion that competition encourages prosperity and innovation.

The Authority strives to create an effective market through competition in both the public and private sectors. The mission of the Competition Authority is to contribute to an effective market economy where competition ensures a wide range of goods and services at reasonable prices and with competition for public procurements.

The Authority aims to be one of the most effective, competent and service-minded competition authorities in the OECD area.

The government has set two concrete goals to intensify competition in Denmark:

• During a decade the number of industries in Denmark with competition problems is to be halved.
• The average price level in Denmark must converge to the average price level of the countries that Denmark is traditionally compared with.

The Danish Competition Act is – as it is in many other countries and in the EU – based on the principle of prohibition. The act is “full-fledged”, i.e. based on the principle of prohibition, and includes merger control. The Authority publishes an annual Competition Report (Konkurrenceredegørelse), which measures competition in Denmark, analyses the financial and legal situation and describes major decisions of the year.

1.2 Organisation

The Authority comprises three competition units: a unit dealing with legal affairs and public procurement, a unit dealing with energy regulation, an administration secretariat and a management secretariat.

The Authority has developed a project and network organisation that stimulates teamwork, cross-sectional co-operation and internal mobility. The results of this organisation have increased productivity, development capacity and employee satisfaction.

The Authority currently employs 125 persons. 67 employees work with the Competition Act, 29 work with energy regulation, 13 work with procurement and legal and international affairs and 16 are administrative employees. The number of academic employees is 90.

1.3 The Competition Council

The Danish Competition Council is composed of a chairman and 18 members. The Council represents versatile knowledge of public and private enterprise, including legal, economic, financial and consumer-related issues.

The Competition Council decides on major cases and test cases on the basis of submissions made by the Competition Authority. The Council meets once a month. The Authority is responsible for the day-to-day management on behalf of the Council. The decisions and case handling of the Council and the Authority are not influenced by the ministry or the minister, but are subject to appeal before the Competition Appeal Tribunal and subsequently the ordinary courts.

Version 1.0 March 2004 • © Danish Competition Authority.
Published by the Danish Competition Authority, http://www.ks.dk/
Publication produced according to the standard for electronic publication set by the Government