In July 2025, Estonia finalised the long-awaited transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1 (the ECN+ Directive) into national law, making it one of the last EU Member States to do so. The reform introduces a new administrative enforcement regime (in Estonian: konkurentsijärelevalvemenetlus) and aims to align Estonian competition law more closely with EU standards.
A new dual administrative-misdemeanour system
As part of the reform, criminal liability for competition law infringements has been removed and replaced with a dual system of administrative and misdemeanour proceedings. The Estonian Competition Authority (ECA) now conducts investigations under administrative procedure, while fines are imposed by the courts in misdemeanour proceedings. The interaction between these two proceedings – and their practical application – will be shaped by future case law.
Key amendments
The 2025 reform brings several key amendments compared with the previous framework, including:
- End of personal criminal liability: only undertakings can now be held liable for competition law infringements, while individuals may be held liable only when acting as sole traders (in Estonian: füüsilisest isikust ettevõtja).
- Enhanced investigative powers and cooperation duties: the ECA now has a broad right to issue information requests (in Estonian: teabenõue) and demand documents, correspondence, business strategies, contracts, and other materials related to the investigation. Undertakings have a legal duty to cooperate, although the scope of this obligation may raise questions regarding the privilege against self-incrimination.
- Broader enforcement tools: the ECA may adopt interim measures, obtain digital evidence, and apply procedural safeguards such as temporarily suspending transactions or mergers to prevent competitive harm.
- Higher financial penalties: undertakings may face fines of up to 10% of an undertaking’s worldwide turnover for substantive infringements and periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of global average daily turnover for procedural non-compliance, such as failing to submit required information or obstructing inspections.
- Longer limitation periods: the statute of limitations for the most serious competition-related infringements – including restrictive agreements and abuse of dominance – has been set at five years (previously three years for most misdemeanours), to allow the ECA to handle more complex investigations.
Takeaways
The reform marks a major shift in Estonian competition enforcement. Companies should note that:
- both substantive and procedural infringements can result in substantial fines;
- the lack of case law creates legal uncertainty, making enforcement outcomes and the ECA’s approach difficult to predict;
- internal compliance systems, guidelines, and dawn-raid preparedness should be reviewed and updated accordingly.
October 2025
Kaisa Üksik, Head of Estonian Competition Law Practice Group
Law firm WALLESS