The ACM hits the ground running in its 2025 priorities

Digital economy

In the digital sector, the ACM intends to protect consumers and businesses from (i) abuse of market power and (ii) online deception and manipulation. Key announced measures for 2025 include:

• taking measures, where possible with other market regulators, against abuse, online deception, disinformation and manipulation in online sales, social media and gaming;
• investigating the effects of computerised and personalised price-setting;
• providing guidance to companies and consumers on their rights and obligations under new digital regulations (such as the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act), and
• taking measures against companies taking advantage of their customers’ dependency on their software or their platform (“vendor lock-in”).

Energy transition

The ACM aims to contribute to speeding up the transitioning to a low carbon energy system by taking a number of specific actions in 2025, such as:

• taking measures to address congestion of the power grid in the Netherlands;
• identifying opportunities and barriers in the development of energy markets, for instance in respect of hydrogen and energy sharing;
• providing guidance on the possibilities under the new Energy act, and
• drafting a new regulatory method for gas and electricity grid operators as of 2027.

Sustainability

The ACM supports the move towards a more sustainable economy and the innovation required to get there. The ACM’s 2025 sustainability actions include:

• encouraging fair and clear sustainability claims by companies (with a particular focus on the food sector);
• providing informal guidance to companies on their collaborations to promote a more sustainable economy and innovation, and
• investigating if and how cooperation in the agri-food sector can contribute to a more sustainable agricultural sector.

Market investigations

On top of these 2025 priorities, the ACM will conduct market investigations into the sectors of veterinary practices, (digital) learning resources, computerised consumer pricing, budget segment fixed internet and, hydrogen.

These sectors do not necessarily come out of thin air. The hydrogen sector, for instance, is listed under the energy transition priority and computerised consumer pricing is mentioned under the digital economy priority, whereas the market investigation into prices for fixed internet in the budget segment follows from an earlier telecom market scan. Also, there has been a call for regulatory intervention in the sectors of veterinary practices and (digital) learning resources.

Market investigations are aimed at identifying potential market failures not necessarily caused by competition law violations. The ACM currently lacks the power to fix these failures. Its outcry for a “New Competition Tool” (NCT) to enable it to intervene in these markets, has been heard by the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs: a proposal is set to be published this spring.

It could very well be that the ACM may use these market investigations as a dry run for its much-anticipated NCT. Once (and if) the NCT materialises, the ACM may probably consider fixing other market failures too: vendor lock-in issues, mentioned under the digital economy priority, have, for instance, been on the ACM’s agenda for quite some time now (see our May 2024 newsletter).

Conclusion

Looking at the ACM’s 2025 priorities and market investigations list, the NCT seems only a heartbeat away. A good time for companies to get ready for these investigations. Luckily, the ACM intends to implement a harmonised approach to market investigations, giving companies a bit more guidance on what to expect.