Economic Concentrations between Control and Oversight: A Comparative Legal Analysis of Algerian and Brazilian Competition Regimes
Keywords:
Antitrust, Competition Council, Competition Law, Control, Economic Concentration, Merger ControlAbstract
This research examines the legal frameworks governing economic concentrations in Algerian and Brazilian competition law, employing a functional comparative methodology to analyze the dual nature of "control" as both a private legal instrument for corporate structuring and a subject of public administrative oversight. The study analyzes how Ordinance No. 03-03 (Algeria) and Law No. 12.529/2011 (Brazil) conceptualize "control" as a mechanism for establishing economic concentrations, defined as the decisive and lasting influence over an undertaking’s strategic decisions while preserving its legal personality. Concurrently, it investigates the ex ante oversight exercised by the Competition Council (Conseil de la Concurrence, Algeria) and the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE, Brazil), focusing on institutional independence, procedural efficiencies, and the balance between economic freedoms and competitive safeguards. Through a systematic comparison of notification thresholds, review procedures, and remedial structures, the research reveals significant divergences in institutional design. While Algeria maintains a centralized administrative model subject to governmental override on public interest grounds, Brazil has established a more autonomous technocratic agency with turnover-based notification thresholds and sophisticated remedy structures. The findings suggest that Algeria’s framework, despite robust doctrinal foundations, suffers from procedural ambiguity regarding the Council’s finality of decisions and economically undefined legal thresholds, whereas Brazil’s system offers greater predictability but faces challenges regarding regulatory capture in concentrated markets. The study concludes by recommending the reinforcement of the Algerian Council’s decisional autonomy through the adoption of clear economic thresholds and the elimination of ministerial override provisions, drawing lessons from Brazil’s institutional evolution toward regulatory independence.
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