524 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM may have a more nuanced effect on a supplier’s price and output decisions. Conversely, many intermediaries also serve as aggregators with this who negotiate with numerous suppliers of various products and services and provide to consumers different bundles of products and services for a fee. The European Competition Network (ECN) working group similarly concluded that13: Very few hotels said that they engaged in trade-offs whereby they grant OTAs more favourable room prices or room availability in return for a lower commission rate. (…) According to evidence obtained from certain OTAs, the average effective rates of commission paid by hotels (basic commission plus optional additional commission) remained relatively stable or slightly decreased in almost all participating Member States in the period from January 2014 to June 2016. This was also true for France and Germany. This price difference is evidence of an initial change in the sector, though without any visible sign of increased competition among OTAs, based on other more qualitative or quantitative criteria (market share, quality of the offering and change in commission rates)14. 6. COMPETITION LAW BY NATIONAL COMPETITION AUTHORITIES In Portugal, Law No. 19/2012 of 8 May approves the new competition law regime, repealing Laws No. 18/2003 of 11 June and No. 39/2006 of 25 August, and proceeds to the second amendment to Law No. 2/99 of 13 January. Chapter II of the new competition law deals with the theme of restrictive practices of competition, mentioning their typology in Articles 9, 10 11 and 12. As regards the abuse of a dominant position, Article 11(1) states that: “The abusive exploitation by one or more companies of a dominant position in the national market or in a substantial part thereof is prohibited”15. 13 ECN working group (2017), Report on the Monitoring Exercise Carried Out in the Online Booking Sector by EU Competition Authorities in 2016, September 2017. 14 Autorité de la concurrence, Press release dated 9 February 2017, Hotel booking platforms. Available in: http://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/user/standard.php?id_rub=663&id_article=2945&lang=en. 15 Source: https://dre.pt/pesquisa/-/search/553391/details/normal?q=Lei+n.%C2%BA%2019%2F2012.
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