The Galician Competition Court

The Galician Competition Court (GCC) is an autonomous body of an administrative character that is attached to the Autonomic Economic and Finance Department of the Xunta de Galicia. It is endowed with legal personality and its own budget, with the capacity to act and full independence in the exercising of its functions.

The GCC was created in accordance with Law 6/2004 (12 July), which regulates the bodies for the defence of competition in the Autonomous Community of Galicia. Subsequently, Decree 20/2005 (3 February), concerning the development of Law 6/2004, established complementary regulations controlling the operation of the institutio (see Regulations).

The GGC forms part of the system for the defence of competition that is currently in force in the European Union. This is a three-tier, decentralized system:

1. That of the European Union itself, of which competence in this matter lies with the Commission.
2. The corresponding one in Spain, through the Competition Court and the Service for the Defence of Competition.
3. The specific one at the autonomic level, through the GGC and the Service for the Defence of Competition.

The principal aim of the GGC is to preserve the competitive operation of markets within the territory of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, guaranteeing the existence of effective competition therein.

With this overall objective, the GGC carries out functions of a resolutory, disciplinary, consultational and arbitrational nature, as well as the promotion and diffusion of the merits of competition in society (see Functions of the GGC).

The GGC, which began its activity on 1 January 2005, is constituted as a collegiate body made up of three members, the President and two Members, who are considered as high-ranking officers of the Xunta, and are appointed for a five-year term (see Structure of the GCC).

Procedure for lodging complaints

Regarding the resolutory and disciplinary functions, the initiation of inquiries is the responsibility of the Galician Service for the Defence of Competition, which is currently a Sub-Directorate General in the Autonomic Economic and Finance Department. Complaints regarding any type of conduct that restricts competition must be addressed to his body (see Procedure).