Home > Legal articles > Sustainability and competition: check the ACM’s decision tree
Companies are not always sure how much leeway they have under the competition rules to cooperate on sustainability issues. Following the Minister of Economic Affairs’ new policy rule on sustainability and competition, the ACM has published a decision tree to help companies assess whether their sustainability initiatives are competition-proof. The ACM has also indicated that it will not usually act against widely supported sustainability initiatives if all the parties involved, including government, citizen representatives and companies, favour the initiative. Companies seeking to cooperate on sustainability should therefore use the decision tree as guidance when they do an initial competition law check on their sustainability initiatives.
The Minister of Economic Affairs published the new policy rule in October 2016. The ACM recently followed by publishing its decision tree. The decision tree, together with the policy rule, clarifies that the following factors are relevant in assessing sustainability initiatives under the competition rules:
The policy rule is the first of three measures the Minister intends to take in response to the public’s call for more leeway in sustainability cooperation after the ACM blocked a number of sustainability agreements. Examples of the ACM’s approach can be found in its informal opinions on the closure of coal power plants and the promotion of animal welfare with regard to chicken meat sold in supermarkets. The second measure that the Minister is planning to introduce is a bill to regulate sustainability initiatives. Finally, as a third measure, the Minister will continue discussions at the EU level aimed at clarifying the possibility of sustainability initiatives under the EU’s regulatory framework.
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