French Competition Authority Publishes New Framework Document On Compliance Programs

• Published date: 23 June 2022
• Subject Matter: nti-trust/Competition Law, Compliance, Antitrust, EU Competition
• Law Firm: Bird & Bird
• Author: Mr Thomas Oster and Claire Burlin

On May 24, 2022, the French Competition Authority published a new Framework Document on the benefits of compliance programs and the conditions for their effectiveness.

Main benefits of compliance programs

This new Framework Document highlights three main benefits of compliance programs:

• Preventing financial and reputational risks;
  
  
• Increasing the ease of detection of violations to achieve compliance; and
  
  
• Contribution to the establishment of free and undistorted competition.

Key points to ensure the effectiveness of compliance programs

The French Competition Authority explains that the following 7 key points help ensure the success of compliance programs:

• An explicit statement by managers and corporate officers on the need to comply with competition rules;
  
  
• Where the company's structure allows, designate internal individuals responsible for the program;
  
  
• Implement appropriate measures to inform, train and educate employees or members of the trade association on the importance of complying with the compliance program;
  
  
• Implement a control mechanism to ensure that the compliance program is followed;
  
  
• Implement a warning system on the same model as the whistleblower protection scheme established by the EU directive No 2019/1937 to ensure that the employees or members of the trade association can communicate with the compliance officers either to seek advice or to alert them about actual or potential violations;
  
  
• Implement an alert tracking system (what actions / sanctions are taken) and a penalty...