Norwegian Competition Authority

The Norwegian Competition Authority aim is to ensure well-functioning markets for the benefit of consumers and society at large.

Our mission
Our mission is to help ensure efficient use of the society’s resources by promoting competition, for the benefit of consumers and businesses in various national markets. Our primary objective is that players operating in Norwegian markets comply with the competition rules, as competition is a way of achieving well-functioning markets.

Enforcement
It is our task to enforce the Norwegian Competition Act. The Norwegian Competition Authority works with three main areas of competition law: unlawful cooperation (Section 10), abuse of a dominant position (Section 11) and control of mergers and acquisitions (Section 16). Failure to enforce the law in these three areas could weaken competition to the detriment of consumers and society at large, in the form of higher prices, less choice, poorer quality and a reduced rate of innovation.

By providing guidance and engaging in a dialogue with the business community, by effectively enforcing the Competition Act, by adopting decisions imposing administrative fines and through effective communication, the Authority will prevent and put an end to anti-competitive practices.

Our assessments and decisions shall be of the highest international standard, and we will act with the utmost professionalism and respect in relation to parties involved in our cases.

Independent authority
The Norwegian Competition Authority is an independent regulatory agency whose activities are based on laws and decisions adopted by the Norwegian parliament (Storting), the government and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. The Norwegian Competition Authority also engages in extensive international cooperation. Through the EEA Agreement, competition rules mirroring the rules of the EU are implemented and enforced in Norway.

Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries
The Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries draws up the framework for the Competition Authority’s work.

Appeals
The Norwegian Competition Authority’s decisions may be appealed to the Norwegian Competition Tribunal.

Appeals are addressed to the appeals board but must be sent to the Norwegian Competition Authority.

Management
The Norwegian Competition Authority is led by its Director General, Tina Søreide. The Director General is appointed by the King in Council for a term of six years.

The Norwegian Competition Authority employs 116 people and has its headquartered in Bergen.

Established in 1994
The Norwegian Competition Authority was established on 1 January 1994, at the same time as the Norwegian Competition Act and the Price Policy Act came into effect. However, the history of Norway’s pricing and competition authorities can be traced all the way back to the start of World War I.

Suspect wrongdoing? Let us know
You can contact us with questions about unlawful cooperation, abuses of a dominant position or cases concerning mergers, acquisitions and the establishment of joint ventures. Every year, we receive more than 200 tip-offs about possible violations of the Norwegian Competition Act. If you know of anything that you suspect may be in breach of the Competition Act, please let us know.

To contact us you can use our dedicated phone number: +47 55 59 75 00.