2004-06-15: Regulation which restrict competition
In May 2002 the Danish government presented a plan for economic growth (Vækst med vilje). One of the main goals in the plan is to increase Danish competition in order for Denmark to be among best ranked countries in the OECD. Furthermore the goal is to secure that Danish consumer prices are on the same level as the prices in comparable countries. One of the means is to halve the number of markets with competition problems before 2010.
The effort to strengthen competition is made widespread. One of the main focus areas has been enforcement of the Danish Competition Act i.e. to secure that enterprises do not enter into agreements that restrict competition or abuse a dominant position on the market. However, in some situations the lack of competition is not due to the behaviour of enterprises, but derives from law and regulation. In some cases regulation, that secures public interests of environment, consumers, health issues etc. restrict the competition unnecessary.
Therefore, the Danish government in 2003 decided to initiate a deregulation project aiming to reduce the number of rules restricting competition in Danish law. The project’s object was to analyse a number of selected areas and to identify possible changes in regulation that restricts competition unnecessary i.e. without deviating from considerations of other public interests such as consumers, health etc. The analyses were carried out by the Danish Ministry of Economics and Business Affairs, The Danish Competition Authority and the Danish Ministry of Finance in cooperation with other relevant ministries.
The 12 areas which were analyzed were:
- The Danish Working Environment Service’s exclusive right to inspect elevators, boilers ect. (The Ministry of Employment)
- Soil analyses (The Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries)
- Dentists (The Ministry of the Interior and Health)
- Legal counselling ( The Ministry of Justice )
- The Theatre Act (The Ministry of Culture)
- The Planning Act (The Ministry of the Environment)
- Land registration and registered surveyors (The Ministry of the Environment)
- Taxies (The Ministry of Transport)
- Copenhagen’s Free Port (Ministry of Transport)
- Fixed prices on tobacco ( The Ministry of Economics and Business Affairs)
- Building – standards and authorisations (The Ministry of Economics and Business Affairs)
- Business Act, Restaurant and Hotel Act (The Ministry of Economics and Business Affairs)
On the basis of the projects recommendations the Government has suggested the following proposals:
Suggestions to amend existing regulation that restricts competition
Subject | Suggestion |
The Danish working Environment Service’s exclusive right to inspect elevators, boilers ect | The market for inspections of elevators, boilers etc. will be opened, in order for private businesses in a greater scale to be approved as inspectors.
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The authorisation system for laboratories which carry out soil analysis will be repealed.
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A new collective agreement came into force 1 April 2004. The agreement will lead to a greater transparency on the market. From now on the dentists are obliged to inform the clients about their prices. Furthermore, a dentist has to give a written offer if the price of the treatment will exceed DKK 2.500. At the next collective bargaining the government will propose that all prices are made public on a joint webpage and that the current fixed prices are replaced by maximum prices.
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The Danish ban against commercials for legal counselling by others than lawyers will be repealed. The Ministry of Justice is given authority to frame a set of best practice rules for this area. The Consumer Complaints will in the future also cover legal counselling. Furthermore, the government has decided to appoint a committee concerning lawyers. The committee will consider the possibilities to deregulate the lawyers’ exclusive right to plead for the courts in civil cases and the regulation concerning the ownership of practices.
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Private registered surveyors are given access to conduct land registration in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. The Current regulation concerning ownership to land registration companies will be changed, so others than registered surveyors will be able to own up to 49 pct. of these companies. | |
Taxies | The prospect to enhance the level of competition in the business for example by increasing the price transparency will be examined further. The relevant business organizations will be involved in this work.
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It will no longer be necessary to get a special approval for building materials to water supply and drains which do not come in to contact with drinking water. Furthermore, the approval system for materials that still need a Danish approval will be simplified. It will become legal for all kind of craftsmen to change and repair the same kind of electrical installations as private persons legally can do today. The same will apply for plumbing.
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The obligation for auctioneers to obtain a license to trade will be removed. The Restaurant- and Hotel Act will be changed so ordinary shops in future can serve alcohol. |
The analyses can be found on The Danish Competition Authority’s webpage http://www.ks.dk/.