Compliance programme

Compliance programme in the European Union Law

Concept of Compliance programme provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): A company's internal policy, established to ensure its complete compliance with competition rules in all its business actions. In a compliance programme the company trains its personnel on compe-tition rules and provides them with guidance on how to avoid agree-ments or practices that restrict competition when they engage in commercial actions and contacts with competitors. Some compliance programmes also set out what action needs to be taken if staff members find out that an agreement or practice, to which the company is a party, infringes competition rules.