Abstract
Western Balkan jurisdictions (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia (FYROM)) are often outside the focus of the competition community in the EU. This paper aims to rectify that, by providing an overview of the most interesting competition law developments in these jurisdictions during 2017. The overview will show that, despite similarities in their competition legislation, the observed jurisdictions differ when it comes to their priorities in competition law enforcement: while for some the accent is on merger control, for others it is on antitrust. The paper also highlights certain peculiarities of the observed jurisdictions, even though they are all based on the EU model. These include the existence of a notification system with respect to individual exemptions of restrictive agreements in three out of the four observed jurisdictions.
Highlights
Competition law developments in Western Balkan jurisdictions1 are usually outside the focus of EU observers in this field
In May 2017, the NCA launched an investigation against Frikom, the largest Serbian ice cream manufacturer
The incentives allegedly consisted of rebates and money payments to retailers in order to keep them from purchasing ice cream produced by Frikom’s competitors
Summary
Competition law developments in Western Balkan jurisdictions are usually outside the focus of EU observers in this field This is understandable – individually, all these countries are fairly small, especially in terms of their economic strength. As part of the EU accession process, each of these countries has concluded a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, which, inter alia, provides a legal basis for the approximation of local competition regimes with the EU model.. As part of the EU accession process, each of these countries has concluded a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, which, inter alia, provides a legal basis for the approximation of local competition regimes with the EU model.2 Another factor which connects these four jurisdictions is that they all used to be part of Yugoslavia, a fact that contributes to the similarities of their legal systems. Serbian developments will be given most attention, as it is by far the largest of the four countries and with, arguably, the most active NCA in the region
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