The Portuguese Competition Authority has sentenced the Portuguese Association of Driving Schools (APEC) and its president to pay fines for preventing, distorting or appreciably restricting competition in the market for the provision of driving instruction services in the Greater Lisbon and Setúbal areas by setting minimum prices for obtaining a driving licence. The practice of imposing minimum prices began on 28 September 2016 and targeted a set of approximately more than 170 driving schools in the geographical area where the association operates. The president of the association is also accused of committing a misdemeanour, for having knowledge of the practice and not having adopted any diligence to prevent the infringement or its execution. On 17 January 2017, the AdC carried out searches and seizures in the context of the process, which allowed obtaining evidence that supported the adoption of the condemnatory decision. The Statement of Objections was adopted on 27 July 2017, and the Respondents exercised their right of hearing and defence, through the submission of written statements, on 12 August 2017. In the concrete determination of the amount of the fines, the Authority considered the criteria set out in Article 69 of the Portuguese Competition Law, its Guidelines for the calculation of fines, in addition to the turnover of the driving schools associated to APEC, in the case of the Association, and the annual remuneration received in 2016 for the performance of its duties, for its President. The decision of the AdC puts an end to the investigation opened on 7 December 2016. Price decisions and recommendations adopted by associations of undertakings, insofar as they may influence the autonomous definition by the associated undertakings of their respective commercial policy, are liable to infringe the Portuguese Competition Act. Each undertaking must determine autonomously its commercial policy, generating competition in the market. These decisions of associations of undertakings prevent the setting of more competitive prices, reinforcing barriers to market entry and depriving the consumer of the possibility of choosing and negotiating the purchase of goods and services at the best price. The AdC has already condemned in the past other business associations for anti-competitive decisions, and associations should avoid interfering in the commercial autonomy of their members. The violation of competition rules not only reduces consumers' welfare but also harms the competitiveness of companies, penalising the economy as a whole. The Portuguese Competition Authority published, in November 2016, the Guide for Business Associations "With Competition Everybody Wins", with the objective of making associations of undertakings and their associates aware of decisions or behaviours to avoid, in order to ensure respect for competition rules and which is available on its website, at www.concorrencia.pt