Ireland ∙ Implementation of the ECN+ Directive in Ireland: An Overhaul of the Domestic Competition Law Regime.

Keywords: Ireland; ECN+ Directive; implementation; merger control; leniency programme; administrative sanctions EN Ireland ECN+ Directive implementation merger control leniency programme administrative sanctions 134 137 4 07/29/22 20220401 NES 220401 I. Introduction The President of Ireland signed the Competition (Amendment) Act 2022 (the Act) into Irish law on 29 June 2022.[1] The Act has implemented fundamental changes to Ireland's competition regulatory regime together with transposing Directive EU 2019/1[2] (the so-called ECN+ Directive) into Irish law. Enforcement of competition law in Ireland has always faced difficulties, often due to the limitations imposed on, in particular, the CCPC to impose administrative sanctions under the Competition Act. The Act mandates the Competent Authorities to put in place such a leniency programme in Ireland and it is intended that the leniency programme that the CCPC will establish will run separately, and in addition to, the existing cartel immunity programme that the CCPC currently has in place. [Extracted from the article]