OECD Regional Centre for Competition in Latin America

Workshop on
Advocacy and Competition Assessment

Session: “OECD Competition Assessment Toolkit”

Country Experiences, Portugal, 19 May 2022

Sónia Moura
Legal Officer | Bureau of Economic Studies and Market Monitoring
smoura@concorrencia.pt

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01 “AdC’s Action Plan for Legislative and Regulatory Reform”. Results
from the AdC/OECD Cooperation Project.

02 Follow-up on the implementation of the competition assessment

review. Steps taken to promote implementation. Highlights of
legislative proposals in discussion/approved by the public decision
maker.

03 Competition policy as a catalyzer of economic recovery. The

Portuguese Government “Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR)”. The
AdC’s contribution: advocacy paper.

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AdC/OECD Cooperation Project: 19 months Outputs (OECD):

(2016/2018)  Final Report OECD Recommendations
Aims: Capacity Building; Intervention; (2018)
“AdC’s Action Plan for Advocacy  Identification of restrictions to
Legislative and 2 Sectors: Self-regulated professions & competition in the legal/regulatory
Regulatory Reform” Transports (inland, maritime and ports) framework on the 2 sectors
Criteria for selection of the 2 sectors:  765 recommendations
 The importance of the sectors for external  Benefits of removing the identified
competitiveness and exports; restrictions
 Their weight in domestic consumption;
 The contribution to employability
Results from the Methodology: Check-list OECD (Toolkit)
Interaction with Stakeholders:
AdC/OECD
 Public events: Oct 2016; July 2018
Cooperation Project  High Level Committee Meetings chaired by
the Secretary of State of the Presidency of
the Council of Ministers
 Bilateral meetings (> 200 meetings)
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 Workshops for CIA (public and private
stakeholders)
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Outputs (AdC):
 AdC Guidelines for Competition Impact
 AdC Action Plan for Legislative and
Assessment of Public Policies (2018)
Regulatory Reform to implement OECD
“AdC’s Action Plan for recommendations for the 2 sectors (2018)
 Ex-ante & ex-post assessment of legislation and
regulations, at central, regional or sector levels
Legislative and (Parliament, Government or public entities)
 CIA procedure: provides the public decision
Regulatory Reform” maker with one more piece of information to
consider, from a competition standpoint

Results from the

AdC/OECD
Cooperation Project

Available: https://www.concorrencia.pt/pt/projeto-adc-impact-2020 Available: https://www.concorrencia.pt/en/recommendations-

and-opinions
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01 “AdC’s Action Plan” (2018)
13 Self-regulated
professions
 Legal: lawyers; notaries; solicitors; bailiffs
 Financial and economic: economists; certified
accountants; statutory auditors; customs brokers
 Technical and scientific: architects; engineers;
technical engineers
 Health: nutritionists; pharmacists
9 Strategic key
proposals
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1. All professions - Separation of the regulatory and representative function for all self-regulated
professional associations
• Independent supervisory body external or internal, regulating access to the profession
• Representatives of the profession and other high-profile individuals
2. All professions - Reanalyse all reserved/tasks granted to the specific categories of professionals.
Abolish when they are disproportionate, overprotective or obsolete
3. All professions - Reanalysis and identification of alternative routes to obtain the necessary and
adequate academic qualifications for the exercise of a self-regulated profession. Post-graduate
degree or a conversion course
4. All professions - Reassess proportionality of the characteristics of traineeships required to join a
professional association. Duration, Purpose, Evaluation model & Charges
5. All professions - Open ownership and partnership of all professional firms to non-professionals
(totality or majority), if decided by the firms
6. All professions - Open the management of all professional firms to include only non-professionals
members, if decided by the firms
7. All professions - Allow multidisciplinary practice in all professional firms. Reevaluate the
proportionality of incompatibilities and impediments
8. Notaries - Abolish the quotas and territorial limitations for notaries to allow for competition
between notarial offices (at least where demand and economic activity are high)
9. Auditors - Eliminate rules requiring notification to the professional association of statutory
auditors of strategic information in contracts related to the exercise of public interest functions
01 “AdC’s Action Plan” (2018)

Road sector
Transports sector
1. Abolish the mandatory licensing regime for freight operators using solely motor vehicles between
2.5 tonnes and 3.5 tonnes in the domestic market

15 Strategic key 2. Abolish minimum capital requirements to start the business on passenger and freight
transportation operators as well as on truck rental operators
proposals
3. Abolish access and price restrictions for long-distance bus routes (“serviços expressos”)

4. Abolish quotas and geographical restrictions for taxis (municipal level). Revise Prices Convention
Regime to allow maximum prices for pre-booked services and discounts for hailing and taxi ranks

5. Abolish the 500 metre geographical restriction on the location of driving schools

6. Abolish geographical restrictions on the establishment of vehicle inspection centres (distance,

population, market share criteria), abolish the obligation to separate repair services and vehicle
inspection and introduce a maximum price regime

7. Abolish licensing or authorisation requirements of a minimum number of vehicles to start the

activity imposed on long-distance bus routes operators with a "high-quality service“, operators of car
rental services and of truck rental services over 6,000kgs

Rail sector
8. Regulate the legislation applicable to the certification of train drivers. Ensure that the legislative
and regulatory requirements are in conformity with Directive 2007/59/CE
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9. Abolish the maximum period of validity for railway licences and establish the principles and
procedures applicable to their revision every five years, in line with Directive 2012/34/UE
01 “AdC’s Action Plan” (2018)

Maritime sector
Transports sector
10. Implement an alternative model of regulation of public service obligations for cabotage in the
Portuguese islands, based on general principles that promote efficiency of the public services,
transparency and minimise distortions to competition. In an interim period or if the current regime is
15 Strategic key still kept, introduce a maximum price regulation
proposals
Ports sector
11. Amend the legal regime for port tariffs fixed by the provision of port services, provided directly by
the port authority. Establish a common formula taking into account the principles of transparency
and cost-based, in line with the regime provided for in the EU Regulation 2017/352

12. Amend the legal regimes governing the provision of pilotage services, port towing and port
handling operations, with a view of broadening the private sector’s access to these activities, by only
enabling port authorities to directly provide the service when there is no market interest by private
operators

13. Redesign concessions for port towing and port handling operations to promote investment and low
tariffs for port users (length ; awarding criterion; structure of the concession revenues)

14. Open the market for the provision of port labour to temporary work agencies and eliminate the
specific licensing regime of port labour companies, enhancing competition in the supply of port
labour to cargo-handling companies

15. Reduce the cost and administrative burden of obtaining and renewing a Pilot Exemption Certificate
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(PEC), in order to improve the competitiveness of piloting services in ports
01 “AdC’s Action Plan” (2018)

Estimated benefits Self-Regulated professions Transports

with the  Estimated quantitative benefits in the  Estimated quantitative benefits in the
implementation Portuguese economy: € 128 million/year Portuguese economy: € 249 million/year
(OECD)
Groups of Professions Benefits/Consumers Transports Sectors Benefits/Consumers Benefits/Firms
(elasticity of demand: -2) (elasticity of demand: -2) (capital reinvest./:

(price reduction: 2.5%) (price reduction: 2.5%) 10 years)

Legal € 32 million/year Road € 199,41 million/year € 27,26

Financial and economic € 52 million/year Rail € 12,53 million/year
Technical and scientific € 44 million/year Maritime € 3,33 million/year
Health n.a (only cabotage)
Ports € 4,74 million/year
(only CPE)

Total € 128 million/year Total € 249 million/year

 Multiplier effects: each additional € 1  Multiplier effects: each additional € 1

(legal and accounting services) would (transport services) would result in € 1,018 on
result in € 1,49 on the Portuguese GVA the Portuguese GVA

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Since 2019-2022 the AdC has taken advocacy measures to promote implementation:
Follow-up on the  Participation in Conferences: promoting the need for implementation of the recommendations
implementation of the  Initiatives promoting contacts with relevant stakeholders, i.e., formal letters/requests for
meetings/meetings with:
competition assessment  relevant Ministries at Governmental level to follow-up

review:  all Political Parties represented at the Parliament with legislative initiative powers
 all Orders to follow-up

 Adopting Opinions and Recommendations addressed to the public decision maker regarding
Steps taken to promote proposals for legislative amendments or new legislation/regulations, some following up Public
implementation Consultations, e.g. (see here):
Professions
 on the competitive impact of the accreditation process of higher education study cycles with direct and indirect impact on the
access to self-regulated liberal professions (2020)
Highlights of legislative  on the amendments of specific dispositions of the By-laws of the Statutory Auditors Order (2021)
proposals in  on the 4 legislative proposals aiming at amending the framework-laws applicable to all public professional associations and
professional societies, thus subsequently allowing for specific amendments to the By-laws of all Orders (in discussion in the
discussion/approved by the Parliament, in 2021) (Law No. 2/2013 & Law No. 53/2015) (2021)
public decision maker Transports
 on the adoption of a framework-law on access and exercise of the long distance bus routes activity and also on access to
interfaces (2019); and on follow-on sectoral regulations (2019; 2021)
 Economic Study promoting competition in the Portuguese Ports Sector, emphasizing the recommendations for the sector
resulting from the AdC/OECD Cooperation Project (2018)

9 | Autoridade da Concorrência © 2021  on the establishment of vehicle inspection centres in Madeira (following the recommendations for Mainland) (2021)
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 Portuguese Government PRR – Resilience Reforms (April-July/2021)

Competition policy as a  Foresees a reform to reduce unnecessary regulatory restrictions to access and
catalyzer for economic exercise of self-regulated professions: C6, RE-r16: “Reducing restrictions in highly
regulated professions”
recovery Available: https://recuperarportugal.gov.pt/c6-qualificacoes-e-competencias/

 AdC’s contribution: “The Role of Competition in Implementing the

Economic Recovery Strategy” (June/2021)
The Portuguese  Roadmap with recommendations and principles to
Government “Recovery be considered by Government and other policy-
makers
and Resilience Plan (PRR)”
 Three core areas – opportunity for change:
 Removing unnecessary barriers in the law, for
firms to enter the market and expand their
The AdC’s contribution: business – implementing AdC’s Action Plan
advocacy paper (Professions & Transports)
 Enhancing competitiveness and efficiency in public
procurement; and
 Applying competitive neutrality in public financial
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support to firms.
Available EN: https://www.concorrencia.pt/sites/default/files/2021-AdC-contribution-on- economic-recovery.pdf
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Key messages:
 The AdC/OECD Cooperation Project, using the Toolkit, has identified unnecessary restraints on
legal frameworks and proposed alternative less restrictive ways to achieve the policy objectives,
in support of pro-competitive reforms in the two sectors

 Significant advocacy measures have been taken by the AdC to promote implementation

 Significant steps forward taken at public decision maker level. E.g., Reform foreseen in PRR;
other initiatives at Governmental and/or Parliamentary level under discussion and/or adopted

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