Sweden's competition law reform takes effect

From 1 August 2026 the Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) gains three new instruments: an outcome-based competition-promotion tool that lets it require companies to remove identified barriers to competition without having to prove a breach of the law; broadened merger control that for the first time reaches smaller and local markets below the previous thresholds; and an extended notification duty requiring companies in concentrated markets to report all acquisitions for up to two years. In parallel, the Law on Public Sales Activities (LOS) takes effect, allowing sanction fees of up to SEK 20 million against public bodies that compete unfairly with private firms. Provisions on evaluation and separate accounting follow only on 1 January 2027.

The reform is based on government bill prop. 2025/26:203, 'Nya verktyg för stärkt konkurrens i privat och offentlig verksamhet'. It is the most far-reaching overhaul of Swedish competition law in years: it now also captures concentrations in local markets that previously carried no notification duty, and makes public-sector economic actors sanctionable for the first time. Konkurrensverket receives an additional SEK 11 million in budget for the task.