THE NEED FOR COMPETITION AUTHORITIES TO BE ABLE TO INTERVENE RAPIDLY IS ACKNOWLEDGED AS BEING CRUCIAL. … THE MEANS TO ACHIEVE The Autorité makes regular use of inte- The adoption of the ECN+ Directive also ITS AMBITIONS rim measures and can intervene within represents a major step forward, by a very short timeframe when imminent making interim measures common prac- Interim measures and damage needs to be prevented, in the tice at European level and by allowing commitments: solutions event of serious and immediate harm to competition authorities to take action on that are ideally suited the interests of an economic sector, a their own initiative with a view to issuing to urgent situations company or consumers, or to the func- such measures. This new provision will To act effectively in a wide range of sec- tioning of competition in the market. enable the Autorité to act on its own ini- tors, and in particular in the digital sec- tiative as soon as an abuse is identified, tor, competition authorities need to rely The dispute on the application of the law without waiting for complaints from ope- on tools that have proven their effective- on related rights by Google is an example rators who are sometimes reluctant to ness and flexibility. Today, the fact that of rapid intervention, which made it pos- refer practices to the Autorité that are competition authorities need to be able sible, in just 4 months, to rule on the prac-implemented by actors on whom they to intervene rapidly is acknowledged as tices of a major digital platform. may be economically dependent. being crucial. Most competition autho- rities therefore share the objective of Moreover, where it identifies competi- In addition to these advances, reflec- conducting their investigations within tion concerns, the Autorité may make the tions are underway on the possible timeframes that are responsive to rapid commitments proposed by the company ways of encouraging greater use of inte- market developments and of making in question to address these concerns rim measures at European level. Indeed, wider use of interim measures. binding. The commitments procedure can the European Commission wants to make therefore resolve problems quickly, pro- more use of interim measures. In 2019, it vided that the companies in question are used interim measures for the first time prepared to change their behaviour and in 17 years, in the Broadcom case, which adapt, for example, their internal prac- was subsequently closed with the com- tices, contractual provisions, pricing mitments procedure (EC Press Release, policy or internal organisation. 16 October 2019). THE FRENCH COMPETITION AUTHORITY, A PIONEER IN EUROPE The Autorité has adopted more interim measures than any other competition authority in the European Union, around thirty decisions on interim measures since the 2000s, with an average investigation time of around six months.