Policy Brief | Issue 4 | 29 January 2020


In its fourth policy brief, the Monopolies Commission discusses the draft bill for a Tenth Act to amend the Act against Restraints of Competition for a focused, proactive and digital competition law 4.0 (Competition Law Digitisation Act).

  • The new types of abuse for companies with paramount cross-market significance should not be introduced in haste.
  • In the case of exploitative abuses, a causal link between dominant position and abusive behavior should still be present.
  • The companies affected by the proceedings should be required by law to cooperate more strongly if effective enforcement by the antitrust authorities cannot otherwise be ensured.
  • An increase in the merger notification thresholds and the associated lowering of competition protection should be combined with a targeted increase of merger review in regional markets.

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Sector Report pursuant to Sec. 44 of the Postal Services Act, Bonn, 3 December 2019


  • Competition on the letter market remains insufficient, while it is intensifying on the parcel market
  • Control of abuse of dominance on the letter market should be intensified
  • Consumer protection is to be strengthened by improving the approval procedure for letter postage and by introducing binding conciliation procedures



Sector Report pursuant to Sec. 121(2) of the German Telecommunications Act, Bonn, 3 December 2019


  • The priority of private investment in broadband deployment should be maintained. State aid should be moderate and targeted where deployment by market players does not take place.
  • The planned fixed-network subsidies in "grey areas" need to be adapted in order to prevent large-scale crowding out of private investments in the fixed network. Gigabit vouchers should be used to strengthen demand.
  • To improve mobile communications coverage, the deployment in previously unserved areas should be put out to tender in a competitive procedure.