Market Functioning in Belgium : Horizontal Screening of the Sectors (2017)

The horizontal screening identifies market sectors that show a higher risk of market failure due to lack of competition in their markets and therefore require particular attention of public authorities (from a perspective of better market monitoring).

More than 600 market sectors (industries and services) of the Belgian economy are analyzed over the period 2011-2015. Different dimensions of market functioning are taken into account such as markups or market shares of different firms. The report presents the results of the 2017 screening.

According to this screening, the main sectors needing attention are:

• Network industries,
• Food and beverage industries,
• Metallurgy, metal products and other mineral products,
• Network services, such as telecommunications and transport,
• Wholesale and retail trade,
• Renting and leasing activities,
• Personal services, such as holiday resorts and villages and campings.

In addition, a specific analysis is carried out concerning the stability of various service sectors. It aims to identify service sectors that are particularly stable (in terms of market shares of the firms that they contain). It appears that several retail and wholesale sectors have only few modifications in the distribution of the market shares. Moreover, the report identifies a series of service sectors that are very stable over time and particularly profitable.

The report results are not a final judgment. Instead, they represent a first step towards a more in-depth analysis of these markets.

This screening is carried out annually since 2014 (last year report). The methodological reference framework was developed in 2011 within the framework of the AGORA project - MMS Monitoring of Markets and Sectors.