Terje Sigurðsson,

Welcome to the Faroese Competition Authority. The Faroe Islands have had an independent competition authority and competition law for many years, but the law which came into effect on the 1st of January 2008 was a huge milestone in the Faroese competition history.

Since then, the law has been updated a number of times, the last time in march 2024.

The law is similar to Denmark's Competition Act, with provisions against anti-competitive behaviour and abuse of market dominance as well as merger control. The competition authority has the power to prohibit a merger that may lead to a substantial lessening of competition. The new law also shifts the focus from control to prohibition, with provisions similar to that of Article 81 and 82 in the European Union. A notable difference regarding the newest version of the law and the Danish law, is §29 a. which allows the Faroese Competition Authority to conduct market investigations, and fix issues in the market, even when there has been no breach of competition regulations.

An English version of the new law can be downloaded here.