With the legislative amendment that entered into force on 24 November 2023, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) has been granted new tasks related to the EU Regulation on the supervision of foreign subsidies detrimental to competition.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) is applied exclusively by the European Commission. The Commission is assisted by designated authorities in each Member State. In Finland, this authority is the FCCA.
The FCCA acts as the national contact point for the flow of information between the Commission and national authorities. To carry out this task, the FCCA will have the right to receive information under the FSR from other national authorities and procuring entities, notwithstanding confidentiality provisions. The FCCA will also have the authority to conduct inspections in accordance with the FSR in Finland at the request of the Commission, or to assist the Commission in its inspections conducted in Finland. The new tasks are based on amendments to the Act on the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority.
The aim of the EU regulation is to enable more effective intervention in subsidies granted by third countries that distort competition and jeopardise the level playing field for businesses in the European internal market. The EU regulation covers, inter alia, concentrations and public procurement procedures and grants the Commission extensive powers of investigation and access to information.