The competition authorities of the Basque Country are planning to initiate a consultation with the National Competition Commission (CNC) and other autonomous bodies in the area to propose the adoption of a uniform test of competition in Spain.

This was announced by the president of the Basque Tribunal for the Defense of Competition, Javier Berasategui, since it would be important to have a model similar to Britain, where the deployments and expansion of supermarkets and hypermarkets in more than a thousand square meters must undergo a test of competence.

Berasategui for this initiative, which would be a pioneer in Spain, should serve to introduce more competition in the market for retail distribution, as well as to control inflation and benefit consumers.

In the opinion of the president of the Basque Court of competition in the market for Spanish food has a high concentration and national economic and legal barriers that protect companies already established in local markets. In addition, the Court finds that proliferate Basque highly concentrated local markets without the competitive dynamics reduce that concentration.

Proposal backed

The president of the Basque Court of competition ensures that the proposal to be submitted to the CNC is supported by the study The supply of Groceries in the UK, produced by the British competition authority.

Berasategui believes that if the Spanish authorities to agree and adopt a single test for all of Spain, 'would be an unprecedented achievement,' which in addition to protect competition, would introduce greater certainty and ensure the unity of market