The groundwork for the subsequent establishment of the Monopolies Commission was laid long before 1974. The Act against Restraints of Competition of 1957 provided the Federal Republic of Germany with a key regulatory framework for curbing cartels and protecting competition as the cornerstone of the social market economy. In 1958, the Federal Cartel Office began its work. Even then, it became apparent that competition requires rules and institutions to safeguard it.

In the 1960s, another issue gained prominence. What happens when markets become increasingly concentrated not through cartels, but through mergers? The number of major mergers increased, economic power became concentrated in individual sectors, and concerns grew that competition law did not yet provide an adequate response to this development. This debate gave rise to political pressure to introduce merger control and to ensure that the trend towards concentration was systematically monitored.
 

An important political impetus came as early as 1969. In its policy statement, the new Federal Government announced that it would modernise competition law, introduce preventive merger control and establish an independent Monopolies Commission. This set the course for measures that were enshrined in law in 1974: competition was to be not only protected by law, but also supported by academic research and assessed in the public interest.

The Second Act Amending the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) introduced merger control and, at the same time, established the Monopolies Commission. It commenced its work in 1974 — with a statutory mandate to report on market concentration, to report on decision-making practice under competition law, and to issue opinions in ministerial authorisation proceedings where the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs nevertheless wished to approve a merger that had been prohibited by the Federal Cartel Office. The first major report was published in 1976 under the title ‘More competition is possible.’
 

Since the 2000s, the Monopolies Commission’s remit has expanded. In the wake of liberalisation, market opening and privatisation, regulated markets and network industries have come more into focus. This refers to sectors that were long characterised by state-run or state-affiliated monopoly structures.

Through its sector reports, the Monopolies Commission has since regularly monitored the development of competition in the postal, telecommunications, energy and rail sectors. This reflects the view that competition must also be safeguarded in highly regulated sectors.
 

Today, the Monopolies Commission provides advice on competition and regulation through main reports, sector reports, special reports and policy briefs. Its regular, statutory duties also include issuing statements on current economic and competition policy issues.

Among other things, it addresses particularly relevant topics such as AI, food supply chains, fuel markets and defence issues. In this way, it contributes its independent perspective as the voice of competition to current debates.