The Guatemalan Congress is currently considering a Bill (Number 5074) to enact legislation on Competition Law, including the standard contents of anticompetitive practices, merger control, competition advocacy, and others. Guatemala is one of only a few countries lacking systematic regulation on these matters, and the topic gained renewed interest under the new Legislature, installed in January of this year.
The Legislative Commission in charge of Bill 5074 requested parties to submit amendment proposals by the end of April. Various such proposals were received, and the Commission discussed them in a meeting on May 8th.
After the meeting, the Commission’s Chairman informed the press that the proposals will be discussed with congressional advisers prior to further discussions with legislators, seeking to reach consensus before returning a final amended version of the Bill to the full Congress. He stated they foresee carrying out at least three further Commission meetings before completing a final, amended version.
The Bill has, to date, passed two of three required “readings” in the full Congress. It has twice failed to pass the third reading, including as recently as May 9th.
The Guatemalan Constitution requires two thirds of Congress to be present when discussing Bills to create or amend independent government agencies, as is the case with the proposed Competition Authority. It also requires a two thirds majority for such Bills to be enacted as law.
Bill 5074 has not passed a third reading because, on a first attempt, the Congress was in session but only with a simple majority. On a second attempt (May 9th), Congress failed to reach even a simple majority quorum and the session was not held at all.
Both times the third reading has been included in the agenda for the full Congress, the Board of Party Leaders did not include that the reading would be followed immediately by the actual debate and approval of the law’s individual provisions. This means that the substantial debate and passage of the Act would happen at a later session. It could even be held over more than one session.
Another Congressman, who is leading the topic on behalf of the UNE party (which originally introduced Bill 5074 in a previous Legislature), said recently in an interview that it has become very unlikely for the Bill to pass before Congress goes into recess on May 15th, as was originally intended by the current Legislature. This, in his opinion, is because the legislative agenda was disrupted last Monday by the Executive introducing a Bill to amend the law governing the Attorney General’s Office. This changed the political landscape within Congress, altered priorities and disrupted alliances, making uncertain how the agenda will be handled in this final week before the recess. Thus, it now seems highly unlikely that the May 15th goal will be met.
The constitutional requirements of a two-thirds majority mentioned above are the main reason why the Commission is seeking agreements before returning a final version of the Bill to the full Congress. This is because those requirements make it easier for such Bills to fail if they are submitted to the full Congress without enough prior support.
This same requirement is among the reasons why the Executive’s Bill on the Attorney General had such an impact on the entire course of the Legislative’s actions.
While Commissions may continue their work during the recess of the full Congress, it is now uncertain what the political landscape for Bill 5074 will be when Congress resumes ordinary meetings in August.
