On 24 April, President Sheinbaum sent her bill to reform the Federal Economic Competition Law to the Senate. The bill will be reviewed and most likely approved via fast-track by the Legislative Branch.
This bill contains specific reforms to strengthen the role of the government in ensuring fair conditions to foster economic competition. These reforms take into account the experience and issues identified by the current National Commission for Economic Competition (Cofece). The proposal is aligned with the USMCA and guarantees the technical and operational independence of the competition authority, even though it will no longer function as an autonomous constitutional body, as Cofece currently does.
The bill establishes that the authority will be a collegiate body – the National Antitrust Commission – a decentralised agency within the Ministry of Economy, with management autonomy and technical and operational independence in its decisions, organisation, and operations. The Commission will consist of five commissioners, appointed by the President and ratified by the Senate.
Commissioners must be professionals with the relevant expertise and experience in antitrust matters. It should be noted that the initiative does not prevent current Cofece commissioners from serving. The initial appointments of the five commissioners will be staggered, with their terms ending in 2028, 2029, 2030, 2031, and 2032, respectively.
The initiative seeks to guarantee the independence of the Commission’s Investigative Authority, while also strengthening existing procedures and increasing sanctions to discourage absolute and relative monopolistic practices, as well as unlawful concentrations. However, since the Commission will form part of the Executive Branch, it may receive direct requests from the Ministry of Economy (Secretaría de Economía) to investigate potential legal infringements.
The bill proposed by President Sheinbaum establishes faculties and procedures to incorporate the Commission’s responsibilities regarding telecommunications and broadcasting, with a particular focus on market dominance and cross-ownership issues. It also establishes a strong working relationship with the newly created Agency of Digital Transformation and Telecommunications (ATDT).
The bill will fully enter into force once the new body of commissioners has been appointed by the President and ratified by the Senate.
However, the Competition bill stands in contrast to the new Telecommunications Bill, which was introduced to the Senate on 23 April and is scheduled for a final discussion on 27 April, as established by the Chairperson of the Senate.
This is despite the fact that several opposing opinions have been raised about various aspects of the bill – particularly regarding the government’s power to block access to digital platforms. President Sheinbaum has addressed this issue, proposing a broad discussion to guarantee there is no intention of censorship or control of these platforms.
Another key difference between the two initiatives lies in their approach to institutional design. The Economic Competition Bill builds on the experience of Cofece to create an independent, collegiate authority and strengthen existing competition law. In contrast, the Telecommunications Bill does not appear to draw on the expertise of the current regulator, the IFT, and proposes a new regulator whose decisions rest with a single individual at the head of the ATDT.
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