How the Authority makes and publicizes its rulings

For every case or complaint brought to its attention, the Chairman appoints a rapporteur from among the Members of the Authority. On the basis of the facts collected by the Directorates responsible for the enquiry phase, and after having heard the representations of the parties at the final hearing, the Authority sitting as a whole takes the final decision at a later, separate meeting, introduced by the rapporteur. The Secretary General shall draft the minutes, attending the discussion but without forming part of the collegiate body. Measures shall state the name of the rapporteur and the date of the session, and shall be signed by the Chairman and the Secretary General. Decisions to shelve cases regarding competition, misleading advertising and conflicts of interest, shall be taken by the Authority and notified by the Secretary General.

The activities of the Antitrust Authority are publicized in different ways. The Authority website publishes a weekly Bulletin with the latest measures on agreements, abuses of dominant position, mergers and acquisitions, unfair practices, misleading and unlawful comparative advertising, as well as reports and fact-finding inquiries on economic sectors.

By March 31st[1] every year, furthermore, the Antitrust Authority submits its "Annual report" on the previous year's activities to the President of the Council of Ministers (who tables it before Parliament). This Report is then presented to the public. On that occasion, the Chairman exposes the policy adopted by the Authority which underlies its decisions.

The Authority also submits a semi-annual report to Parliament on the status of control and monitoring activities related to conflicts of interest, as per Law 215/2004.

The Antitrust Authority has its own website. The pages of the site (http://www.agcm.it) include the full text of all measures (appropriately categorized) adopted by the Authority since it was established. These archives are updated each time new measures are published in the Bulletin.

Documentation related to cases that have already been concluded (measures, reports, annual reports, etc.) and information of general interest (related legislation, press releases, etc.) may be requested from the Authority. Information about proceedings that are still underway and information covered by professional secrecy (in accordance with Sections 12 and 13 of Presidential Decree no. 217/98), however, may not be divulged. To protect the privacy of the subjects of Authority measures in matters of unfair commercial practices, misleading and unlawful comparative advertising, while at the same time ensuring maximum transparency and publicity for the Authority's work, the identification information for such subjects is accessible using the current search engines for a period of three years. When this period has expired, the information is transfered to a special section of the Authority website that can be searched locally but that remains inaccessible to external search engines.



[1] Starting in 2010, according to the provisions of Section 47 (Annual law on the market and competition) of Law no. 99 of 23 July 2009, the Annual report of the Antitrust Authority is to be submitted by March 31 instead of April 30, as prescribed by the founding legislation.