THE ICA’S ADVOCACY ACTIVITY: PROPOSALS FOR THE ANNUAL LAW ON COMPETITION 2014

The report on advocacy activity has become particularly prominent within the framework of the Annual Law for Competition, introduced by article 47 of Law no. 99 of 23 July 2009. In the last report of 4 July 4 2014, the Italian Antitrust Authority (hereinafter “Authority” or “ICA”), in its role of technical and independent body, outlined to the government and parliament the need to adopt structural interventions and to accelerate the implementation of those already started, in order to remove obstacles restricting competition. The reduction of access costs for companies entering in the market by means of less restrictive regulation as well as the removal of barriers to entry and of unjustified restrictions are all elements which foster investments and productivity growth. According to the European Commission, structural reforms could increase Italy’s Gross Domestic Product by 0.7% in ten years, while the International Monetary Fund estimates that the increase could even exceed 8% in the long term.