AdC Mission and Goals

To defend competition to the benefit of citizens - with competition, we all win

The AdC has been promoting, since its creation in 2003, the public good that is Competition — inscribed in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union — to guarantee both the functioning of the market economy and consumer protection.

AdC Mission, values, and vision

The AdC is an independent administrative entity whose primary statutory mission [in Portuguese] is to ensure the application of rules to promote and defend competition in public and private, cooperative and social sectors, respecting the market economy and free competition, for the benefit of people. 

Defending competition on behalf of citizens is its purpose; investigating more, better and faster is its mission. With Dedication, Excellence, Collaboration, Responsibility, and Impartiality as values, the AdC seeks to be the benchmark in the provision of public service with quality, agility, and the ability to deliver value to society.

To carry out its mission, the AdC has three specific powers: 

Sanctioning powers

• Identify and investigate behaviours that infringe national and European Union competition law, namely anticompetitive practices and in the context of merger control, issuing final decisions on the cases;
• Apply fines and other sanctions and measures provided by law; and
• Adopt interim measures.

Supervisory powers

• Assess and decide on mergers subject to prior notification; 
• Carry out studies, inspections, and audits; and
• Perform all the other acts foreseen in the law.

Regulatory powers

• Draft and approve regulations and other norms of a general nature, instructions, and other specific norms;  
• Issue recommendations and generic directives;
• Issue opinions, at the request of Parliament or the Portuguese Government, about legislation or other initiatives related to the promotion and defense of competition; and
• Issue suggestions or proposals to create or review the legal and regulatory framework.