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Närliggande konkurrenslagstiftning eller endast närliggande land? En kritisk studie av den svenska och norska konkurrenslagstiftningen samt dess inverkan på livsmedelsbranschen

Paulsson, Vera Charlotte Emilia LU (2025) LAGF03 20251
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Lately, there has been a lack of competition in the Swedish food industry and its market concentration has been high. The lack of competition has negative consequences for companies who wish to enter the market, as well for consumers private economy. The market in Norway is also extremely concentrated with a few companies that is dominating the grocery trade. However, these companies learned a lesson in 2024 when the Norwegian competition authority fined them billions of Norwegian kroner (NOK).
This thesis analyzes how Norway regulates anti-competitive cooperation and compares it to the Swedish regulation. The thesis analyzes the origin of competition legislation considering EU law and the EEA agreement, which in turn are nearly... (More)
Lately, there has been a lack of competition in the Swedish food industry and its market concentration has been high. The lack of competition has negative consequences for companies who wish to enter the market, as well for consumers private economy. The market in Norway is also extremely concentrated with a few companies that is dominating the grocery trade. However, these companies learned a lesson in 2024 when the Norwegian competition authority fined them billions of Norwegian kroner (NOK).
This thesis analyzes how Norway regulates anti-competitive cooperation and compares it to the Swedish regulation. The thesis analyzes the origin of competition legislation considering EU law and the EEA agreement, which in turn are nearly identical to each other. By investigating cases handled by the competition authorities in each country within the food industry, as well as the grounds on which they base their assessments, the thesis highlights many similarities but also how Norway adopts a more offensive approach to prevent anti-competitive cooperation. The thesis also analyzes a relatively recent case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union and its relevance for future cases handled by competition authorities. It highlights how the court´s statement that indirect evidence can prove unlawful cooperation, may have a significant impact on the national competition authorities.
Swedish and Norwegian legislation regarding anti-competitive cooperation is, theoretically speaking, similar. The neighboring countries have very similar markets in the grocery trade which also generates similar problems. Problems such as proving the harmful cooperation with sufficient evidence. The difference between Norway and Sweden rather lies in their approach to work against the lack of competition, where Norway can be considered slightly further ahead. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Under de senaste åren har konkurrensen i den svenska livsmedelsbranschen varit bristande och dess marknadskoncentration hög. Detta har negativa konsekvenser för företagen som vill tillträda marknaden, såväl som konsumenternas plånbok. Marknaden i Norge är även den ytterst koncentrerad till några få bolag som dominerar dagligvaruhandeln. Aktörerna på marknaden fick sig däremot en läxa år 2024 när konkurransetillsynet dömde ut miljardbelopp till några av de stora i branschen.
Denna uppsats undersöker hur Norge reglerar konkurrensbegränsande samarbeten respektive hur den svenska regleringen ser ut. Uppsatsen analyserar konkurrenslagstiftningens härkomst i ljuset av EU-rätten och EES-avtalet som i sin tur nästintill är identiska med... (More)
Under de senaste åren har konkurrensen i den svenska livsmedelsbranschen varit bristande och dess marknadskoncentration hög. Detta har negativa konsekvenser för företagen som vill tillträda marknaden, såväl som konsumenternas plånbok. Marknaden i Norge är även den ytterst koncentrerad till några få bolag som dominerar dagligvaruhandeln. Aktörerna på marknaden fick sig däremot en läxa år 2024 när konkurransetillsynet dömde ut miljardbelopp till några av de stora i branschen.
Denna uppsats undersöker hur Norge reglerar konkurrensbegränsande samarbeten respektive hur den svenska regleringen ser ut. Uppsatsen analyserar konkurrenslagstiftningens härkomst i ljuset av EU-rätten och EES-avtalet som i sin tur nästintill är identiska med varandra. Genom att undersöka konkurrensmyndigheternas ärenden i respektive land inom livsmedelsbranschen samt dess bedömningsgrunder, redovisas dess många likheter men även hur Norge har ett mer angripande förhållningssätt för att motverka konkurrensbegränsande samarbeten. Uppsatsen analyserar därutöver förhållandevis ny praxis från EU-domstolen och dess relevans för framtida ärenden hos konkurrensmyndigheter. Den belyser domstolens fastställande av att indirekt bevisning kan påvisa otillåtet samarbete och är något som kan få stor påverkan på de nationella konkurrensmyndigheterna.
Den svenska och norska lagstiftningen gällande konkurrensbegränsande samarbeten är, teoretiskt sett, väldigt lika. Grannländerna innehar väldigt liknande marknader inom dagligvaruhandeln vilket också generar liknande problem. Problem såsom att kunna styrka de skadliga samarbetena med tillräckliga bevis. Skillnaden mellan Norge och Sverige ligger snarare i dess motverkande av den bristande konkurrensen där Norge kan anses ligga aningen längre fram. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Paulsson, Vera Charlotte Emilia LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
konkurrensrätt, komparativ rätt
language
Swedish
id
9190164
date added to LUP
2025-06-23 13:21:07
date last changed
2025-06-23 13:21:07
@misc{9190164,
  abstract     = {{Lately, there has been a lack of competition in the Swedish food industry and its market concentration has been high. The lack of competition has negative consequences for companies who wish to enter the market, as well for consumers private economy. The market in Norway is also extremely concentrated with a few companies that is dominating the grocery trade. However, these companies learned a lesson in 2024 when the Norwegian competition authority fined them billions of Norwegian kroner (NOK). 
This thesis analyzes how Norway regulates anti-competitive cooperation and compares it to the Swedish regulation. The thesis analyzes the origin of competition legislation considering EU law and the EEA agreement, which in turn are nearly identical to each other. By investigating cases handled by the competition authorities in each country within the food industry, as well as the grounds on which they base their assessments, the thesis highlights many similarities but also how Norway adopts a more offensive approach to prevent anti-competitive cooperation. The thesis also analyzes a relatively recent case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union and its relevance for future cases handled by competition authorities. It highlights how the court´s statement that indirect evidence can prove unlawful cooperation, may have a significant impact on the national competition authorities. 
Swedish and Norwegian legislation regarding anti-competitive cooperation is, theoretically speaking, similar. The neighboring countries have very similar markets in the grocery trade which also generates similar problems. Problems such as proving the harmful cooperation with sufficient evidence. The difference between Norway and Sweden rather lies in their approach to work against the lack of competition, where Norway can be considered slightly further ahead.}},
  author       = {{Paulsson, Vera Charlotte Emilia}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Närliggande konkurrenslagstiftning eller endast närliggande land? En kritisk studie av den svenska och norska konkurrenslagstiftningen samt dess inverkan på livsmedelsbranschen}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}