Bundeskartellamt

The protection of competition is the key regulatory policy objective in a market economy. In Germany the task of protecting competition is undertaken by the Bundeskartellamt and the competition authorities of the Länder.

The Bundeskartellamt is an independent higher federal authority assigned to the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Since 1 October 1999 it has been located in Bonn, after operating for 40 years from Berlin.
The Bundeskartellamt has a staff of about 300, half of whom are legal or economic experts.

Its activities are based on the Act against Restraints of Competition, ARC (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen, GWB), also referred to as the cartel law, which came into force on 1 January 1958 and has since been amended seven times. The most recent amendment was in 2005.

Apart from German competition law the Bundeskartellamt also applies European competition law in cases where the European Commission, as the competition authority at European level, is not competent under the Merger Control Regulation or, as far as Articles 81 and 83 EC are concerned, under Regulation 1/2003 and the case allocation criteria that have been developed.

The Bundeskartellamt’s decisions are rendered in a manner similar to judicial proceedings by Decision Divisions which are organised according to economic sectors. The Decision Divisions are assisted inter alia by the General Policy Department which provides advice on special competition law matters and coordinates cooperation with other competition authorities, e.g. within the ECA (European Competition Authorities) and ICN (International Competition Network) forums.