SUSTAINABILITY-ORIENTED AGREEMENTS BETWEEN COMPETITORS: A Comparative Analysis of International Guidelines and Perspectives for Brazil
Environmental sustainability; Competition law; Horizontal agreements; Comparative analysis; International guidelines.
This dissertation examines how competition law can be interpreted and applied to accommodate agreements between competitors with environmental sustainability objectives, and to what extent international experiences can contribute to the development of guidelines in the Brazilian context. It is based on the hypothesis that a systematic analysis of foreign documents enables the identification of legal criteria, analytical parameters, and institutional mechanisms that may inform the formulation of national guidelines on sustainable agreements between competitors. To address this question, the study analyzes twelve non-binding documents issued by competition authorities in Greece, Austria, the European Commission, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, France, Portugal, South Korea, and Australia. The research adopts a qualitative and comparative approach, supported by a descriptive quantitative mapping of key categories found in the documents. The analysis focuses on six dimensions: scope and objectives, definitions of sustainability, assessment criteria for the agreements, treatment of benefits and beneficiaries, available institutional procedures, and the use of practical examples. The findings show that, while a common core of technical requirements can be identified across jurisdictions, there are variations regarding interpretative flexibility, the scope of benefits accepted, and the structure of advisory mechanisms. In the Brazilian case, the legal framework appears to be favorable, but specific instruments and institutional practice on the matter remain underdeveloped. The study concludes that international experiences offer concrete and diverse inputs for building national guidelines that combine legal certainty, competition protection, and the promotion of environmental sustainability.