as support for their goals, whether before the counterpart or to competent competition authorities or courts of law. Private Enforcement of competition rules gained a new impulse with the enactment of the relevant Directive70 and its implementation in the national legal orders71. Any natural or legal person — consumers, undertakings and public authorities alike regardless of the existence of a direct contractual relationship with the infringing undertaking, and regardless of whether or not there has been a prior finding of an infringement by a competition authority, may bring an action for damages arising from an anticompetitive conduct. It is thus of interest for the players in the tourism sector to continue raising their awareness concerning the advocacy and enforcement of competition rules notwithstanding the specificities of the sector of activity in question. V. UPDATED REMARKS The influence of competition law in the tourism sector has been an acute topic in recent years for a wide variety of reasons, both from the perspective of advocacy and from the perspective of enforcement. Examples include the legal rules applicable to the growing market power of intermediaries (such as platforms for reserving trips or accommodation) towards their suppliers and final consumers and several signs of increased consolidation notably regarding hotel brands (under a few affiliate parent companies). In the same line, influence is also seen in the public policies concerning notably state aid decisions to airlines during the COVID 19 pandemic and the approach towards barriers to entry and expansion in several markets which are relevant for the tourism sector, such as ride hailing services and public transport. After having briefly addressed this topic during the ESHTE | INATEL International Conference in October 2022, developed it in a contribution on “The sweet&sour taste of tourism and competition law interaction”, which was preprinted in January 2024 and is now published in the next pages. 70 Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union, published in the OJ L 349, 5.12.2014, p. 1–19. 71 Law Nr. 23/2018, of 5 June implemented the Directive mentioned above in note 70 and amended the CA as well as the Law on the Organization of the Judicial System by entrusting the specialized Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court to handle these damages actions. 144 MARGARIDA ROSADO DA FONSECA
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