The Consumer and Market Authority (ACM) is taking a more lenient approach to competition rules because of the corona crisis. Supermarkets may inform each other about stocks and logistics providers may cooperate to get foodstuffs transported.
"These are special circumstances that call for special solutions," board chairman Martijn Snoep told the FD. "But do not go further than necessary to defuse the crisis."
Several companies are said to have already approached the cartel watchdog with questions about how to act at times of crisis. "For example, supermarkets want to know whether they are allowed to keep each other informed. Those kinds of questions come to us."
The ACM hopes that by relaxing the rules, bankruptcies will be averted. Although Snoep argues that competition rules have not completely disappeared; requests will be scrutinised on a case-by-case basis. Companies that take advantage of the crisis, for example by charging extortionate prices or misleading consumers with advertisements, will be taken to task. "We have not had to intervene yet, but we get questions about this too," the ACM chairman said.
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