The president of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), Cani Fernández, demanded this Thursday in Congress that the vacancies in the organization’s board be filled, which has only filled seven of its ten director positions and the vice-president position, which has been vacant for more than a year.
Fernández began his appearance in the Lower House by recalling the “importance” of filling these vacancies, including that of vice president, pending more than a year after the death of Ángel Torres in August 2023. He stressed “the importance of the appointments being made in a timely manner.” Although the supreme body of the entity is doing everything possible to fulfill its functions “without delay,” “the situation should not last very long in time.”
The board of the body that oversees free competition is composed of ten members by law, but there are currently only seven councilors in office, including the president. There are two members whose mandate has expired since September 2023: Bernardo Lorenzo and Xabier Ormaetxea. And three other positions to be filled, including that of vice-president.
The PP’s refusal to accept these appointments is one of the reasons given by the government for the appointment of former minister José Luis Escriva as the new governor of the Bank of Spain without consensus with the main opposition party.
With this request, Fernández began his appearance before the Congressional Commission on Economy, Commerce and Digital Transformation to present the fundamental lines of his action as well as his plans and priorities for the future. Regarding the future National Energy Commission (CNE), which will remove from the agency the powers in this area that it has managed since 2013, “it is important that the transition is an example of institutional collaboration.” What is “fundamental” is “the continuity” of the surveillance of energy markets and that technicians can “continue doing their work” and “avoid noise.”
Regarding the new functions assigned to the Government’s regeneration plan presented last Tuesday, by which the CNMC will be responsible for the future registration of the media, he indicated, without knowing “the scope and content of the proposal”, that if Congress grants it, mandate “with the consequent changes in the law and in our structure, the CNMC will exercise its function as it does with the others”, with “the responsibility, technical rigor, independence and commitment that define the institution”. “The announcement surprised us and everyone.”
Acquisition of BBVA-Sabadell
Regarding the “hostile” takeover of Banco Sabadell by BBVA, he recalled that “it is still in the analysis phase”, still in what is called the “first phase”, for which there is in theory a month, a period that has been extended since the subsequent suspension of this period to obtain all the necessary information.
Fernández recalled that in a non-agreed takeover bid like this, “we have all the information on the notifying party”, BBVA, but not on the takeover bid. And it was necessary to make “repeated” requests for information to Sabadell and carry out comparability exercises of the data provided. The CNMC has not decided whether the operation will move to a “second phase” to impose possible commitments. “We must have the necessary patience, the necessary respect for the work of the technicians” to analyze it with “rigor”. He recalled that the Government can subsequently modify the conditions that may be imposed.
The president of the CNMC reiterated the need to modernize the organization’s organization chart and resources. He stressed that Spain is “practically the only country” in the EU that cannot end investigations through settlement agreements, a pact or regulationin industry jargon, with a small reduction in the fine that “frees up resources” to investigate one cartel when it is already clear that another has been dismantled.
In terms of Competition, the CNMC carried out in 2023 “the highest number of inspections since 2019” and imposed 215 million euros in fines, a figure that has already doubled so far in 2023 with the recent record sanction of 413 million euros on Booking, which, according to Fernández, has had a “positive impact” on the business world in Spain.
Regarding merger control, it approved “in record time”, in the first phase (without analyzing it in depth and without imposing commitments such as the sale of assets) 88% of the notified operations, despite the “complexity” of some of them.
Fernandez acknowledged that “we no longer have as many requests for pardons,” which allow the existence of a cartel to be revealed in exchange for reductions or exemptions from fines for the offender, because the requests for damages from sanctioned companies have caused many companies that previously enjoyed total “immunity” to rethink the tip.
The president of the CNMC indicated that the “most strategic” challenge of the organization is the supervision of the digital economy. This issue “is not only a regulatory area, it is a high-level European strategy to protect our way of life”, in an area in which, he stressed, rights as important as freedom of expression and information, freedom of the market or the protection of minors against addictions.
Fernández criticized the extensions of administrative concessions, such as those for interurban transport, because “we all lose”: the entry of new “more innovative” entrants is prevented and we “put to sleep” new potential operators. This decision is often adopted, he stressed, due to lack of time to prepare new specifications.
Among the studies the agency hopes to approve soon are one on barriers to electric vehicle charging, barriers to the growth of SMEs (e.g. in public procurement), cloud services, the non-impact of the bank tax on their customers and the remuneration of deposits of financial institutions. By 2025, it hopes to prepare another on the housing market.
The agency already uses artificial intelligence to detect possible signs of collusion in public procurement and carry out preventive actions “with very good results.” Fernández recalled the importance of competition in public procurement, which can represent 20% of GDP.
