The output and effectiveness of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets is not up to par at present. Most of the fines it imposes are dismissed or reduced in court. ACM usually rejects complaints from third parties on the grounds of its prioritisation policy. Unlike the supervisory authorities in neighbouring countries, ACM does not give priority to possibly anticompetitive agreements between suppliers and buyers. ACM is guided too much by “politically sexy” subjects such as big data and big tech.
In light of these developments, Martijn van de Hel, Diederik Schrijvershof and Bas Braeken have written a critical opinion in Het Financieele Dagblad. That opinion (in Dutch) can be found here.
