Home

Retail market concentration is growing and the possibility for new entries or the growth of small actors is diminishing; (b) Competition bottlenecks may be better dealt with under an ex ante regulatory regime than under competition rules; (c) Anti-competitive practices of supermarkets are widespread, simultaneous and multifaceted, pointing to a structural market failure; (d) Vertical integration and foreclosure practices by supermarkets place the former vertical relationships between grocery brands and supermarkets in a new horizontal dimension, that is, a non-reciprocal commercialization agreement with competitors, whose brands compete head-on with independent brands in a store; (e) For many years, competition law and policy enforcement has been biased against manufacturers (suppliers) and in defence of retailers. (...) Separation of independent brands from supermarket sales activities 45. In order to ensure equitable access by independent brands to supermarkets and fair in-store competition with supermarket brands, there is a need for supermarkets to maintain separate accounts for sales of their own brands and of independent brands. (...) In addition, in Spain, there is a new law on measures to improve the functioning of the food chain.25 Finally, as vertical integration of supermarket and grocery brand activities and supermarket control over in-store competition under a retail business model raises significant competition-related problems, public authorities