Competition law is changing: in a substantive way by incorporating others policy goals or concerns such as national security, economic resilience, and technological sovereignty, and in a procedural way by using new investigative tools that challenge the traditional framework. This has immediate repercussions on compliance and demands adaptability, out-of-the-box thinking and structure to deal with these new challenges.
In the antitrust area, the year 2025 confirmed growing attention to labour and digital markets. While enforcement is strong in several European countries, with the Portuguese Competition Authority standing out as one of the most active authorities in this area, in 2025 the European Commission adopted its first decision on nopoach practices in the Delivery Hero/Glovo case, which also highlights the risks arising from holding minority shareholdings in competing companies and the exchange of sensitive information in this context.
In the field of abuse of dominance, high scrutiny of technology companies continues, with Google being fined €2.95 billion by the Commission in the Ad Tech case and the innovative judgment of the EU Court of Justice in the Android Auto/Enel X case. In Portugal, 2025 was also an active year in terms of abuse of dominance, with the AdC having adopted a settlement decision in the Madeira banana market and issued a statement of objections against the main online property listings portal, which will likely see developments in 2026.
With regard to private enforcement, in recent years a number of collective actions have been initiated in Portugal for damages arising from competition law infringements, involving extremely high compensation amounts, benefiting from a very favourable legal regime. This year rulings of particular interest were issued on quantification of damages, legal standing and admissibility of funding of collective actions, with developments on these and other issues, such as access to evidence, anticipated in 2026.
A new record was set in merger control, with a total of 98 final decisions adopted by the AdC, 92 of which were clearances. Three relevant non-applicability decisions were adopted which nevertheless demonstrate the broad application of notification criteria by the AdC (particularly the market share criteria). The year was also marked by litigation in merger control, with the confirmation by the Competition Court of a Phase II clearance decision in a complex case (Live Nation/R&B*Arena Atlântico) and a rare annulment of another (Midsid/Dois Lados).
We anticipate significant challenges in 2026, with more intensive use of artificial intelligence by competition authorities being expected, especially in the investigation of antitrust cases. The AdC intends to optimise ex-officio detection of infringements, updating the digital tools already in use, aiming to intensify the use of artificial intelligence to detect anti-competitive behaviour.
The following articles focus on these various topics – and also on others of great interest, such as State aid or the control of foreign subsidies – and have been prepared by our European and Competition Law Team, which is available for any questions you may have.