Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 165:

In page 107, to delete lines 36 and 37 and substitute the following: “(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) For the purpose of—

(a) obtaining any information which may be required in relation to a matter under investigation under the Act of 2002 or Article 101 or 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

(b) carrying out any inspection or other fact-finding measure on behalf and for the account of a competition authority of another Member State in accordance with Article 22(1) of the Regulation of 2003,

(c) undertaking inspections considered necessary by, or ordered by, the European Commission with which the Commission has been requested to assist in accordance with Article 22(2) of the Regulation of 2003, or

(d) assisting the European Commission with an inspection conducted by the European Commission in accordance with Article 20 or 21 of the Regulation of 2003,

an authorised officer may, on production of a warrant issued under subsection (3) or (3A) authorising him or her to exercise one or more specified powers under subsection (2), exercise that power or those powers.”.

Amendment No. 165 expands the existing provision in section 31 in respect of the powers of the CCPC to provide mutual assistance to the European Commission and competition authorities in other member states with investigations of potential breaches of competition law under section 37 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014. This amendment will ensure that the CCPC can facilitate all of the mutual co-operation provisions laid out in the ECN+ directive and its underlying framework of co-operation between competition authorities in the EU in EU Regulation 1/2003, which originally established the European Competition Network.

Amendment No. 169 gives the same power to ComReg, under section 35, to offer mutual co-operation under section 39 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002 when it is acting as a competition authority. The ability to facilitate mutual assistance and co-operation with the European Commission and competition authorities in other member states is a requirement under Article 24 of the ECN+ directive. These amendments are necessary to fully implement this requirement for the CCPC and ComReg.