And such Recommendations were considering a hypothetic new competitive tender. In this context, the PCA recommended that there would be a re-evaluation of the scope of the services included in the contract, so as to mitigate potential conflicts of interest – given that the concessionaire may also be a provider of services63. On the same re-evaluation the PCA called the attention to the need to consider whether the exploitation of some services could be outside the scope of the concession, by players in competition with their exploitation being subject to licencing procedure and/or authorization by the competent entities64. There is no subsequent public information on any follow-up the PCA has undertaken since then, if any. IV. FINAL REMARKS Beyond such a circumstantial framework, given the economic importance of the tourism sector and its evolution, the same has been receiving increasing attention by competition authorities notably as a result of complaints by undertakings as third parties to given unlawful arrangements. Whether at the same level of the value chain or in different ones, commercial and contractual arrangements benefit from a preventive assessment of compliance with the same rules. This also applies to dominant firms which need to ascertain the boundaries of their freedom of choice with whom to deal with and the hypothetic situations of abusive behaviour. The first aim would be to ensure compliance with competition rules and ultimately the enforceability of any arrangements as declared in a court of law, but also ideally avoiding incurring into any misdemeanour. The sanctioning of anticompetitive conducts by the Commission and/or national competition authorities can result in very serious consequences both from a financial standpoint and also concerning ancillary sanctions, with a significant impact on the reputation of the entities involved and ultimely on their scope of activity. Just to provide as example, under the CA and as already mentioned, both natural and legal persons can be held liable of anticompetitive conducts. 63 See paragraphs 21 and following of the Recommendations. 64 For more information on this case, please consult the PCA’s webpage available at https://extranet.concorrencia. pt/PesquisAdC/EPR.aspx?Ref=EPR_2020_17&isEnglish=False 142 MARGARIDA ROSADO DA FONSECA
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==