Competition Council Research Articles

Ability of the Competition Council to Individualize the Fines for Infringement of Article 5 of the Law on Competition

Ability of the Competition Council to Individualize the Fines for Infringement of Article 5 of the Law on Competition

The Competition Council Between Independence and Dependence

This research paper aims to investigate the extent to which the Competition Council truly distinguishes itself with sufficient independence and non-subordination to the executive authority, allowing it to directly exercise its powers related to market regulation and punishment of practices contrary to free competition. The Algerian legislator has granted the Competition Council a set of important powers as an independent administrative authority, enabling it to regulate the market and protect free competition. However, it shares executive authority in these matters. It cannot be said that the Competition Council is fully independent, as its members are appointed by the authority represented by the President of the Republic, especially in the absence of other appointment methods. Despite some required conditions for the President’s selection of members, they only relate to the necessary competence for performing their duties. As for functional independence, there are numerous interventions by the executive authority, particularly in establishing internal regulations. Additionally, the council’s funds are considered the Ministry of Trade’s funds, being its sole source of income. Furthermore, annual reports are submitted to other entities.

The European leniency policy as a mechanism for protecting the rights and legitimate interests of bona fide entrepreneurs in the context of the provisions of the status of a candidate country for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union

The economic development of a state is impossible without ensuring a favorable investment climate, without ensuring non-discriminatory conditions for conducting business, including by ensuring fair competition between entrepreneurs and commercial companies.The Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the EU states that "The Parties recognize the importance of free and undistorted competition in their commercial relations. The parties recognize that anti-competitive business practices are likely to distort the proper functioning of markets and reduce the benefits of trade liberalization." Starting from the assumed obligations, including the requirements regarding the harmonization of national legislation, in 2012 the parliament of the Republic of Moldova elaborated and adopted the new competition law no. 183/2012, the normative act invoked being, at that stage, an absolutely innovative one, succeeding a series of previous normative acts intended to regulate relations in the field of competition. The provisions of the analyzed law establish new approaches and attitudes, including principles, procedures and mechanisms, taking over the provisions of articles 101-106 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The law establishes the legal framework for the protection of competition, including the prevention and countering of anti-competitive practices and unfair competition, the realization of economic concentrations on the market, establishes the legal framework regarding the activity and competence of the Competition Council and the responsibility for the violation of the legislation in the field of competition. The main purpose of competition policies is to prevent companies from committing anti-competitive acts. Following this objective, most of the member states of the European Union have allocated powers to the national competition authorities/agencies in order to achieve two main objectives: ensuring the dissuasive effect of sanctions in order to prevent the commission of anti-competitive acts and taking the necessary measures in order to stop them. Our legislator took over the same positive practices adopted at the EU level and in the Competition Law regulated Leniency in art. 84. The article is dedicated to the analysis of the main provisions aimed at the leniency policy applicable in the Republic of Moldova, revealing the essence of this institution, the author also coming with some conclusions derived from the analysis of the national anti-competitive and criminal legislation.

A Social Constructionist Approach to Institutional Change: The Case of the Romanian Competition Council

Abstract Society has built institutions to face various problems in each area of our lives. Yet, institutions face considerable problems in fulfilling their objectives in a continuously changing world. With this in mind, the present study starts from the institutional resistance to change and searches for ways to improve efficiency and increase the positive impact on social welfare. For this, we start by looking at the competition authorities as new institutions and we study how they work and the role of communication, learning, and transparency in increasing institutional efficiency and receiving social legitimacy. The paper begins with a mixed theoretical approach to institutional change and focuses on the role of legitimacy in stimulating institutional change, and the type of institutional change for increasing efficiency. The research ends with the Romanian case study which shows the necessary aspects for making the institutional change real.

The Competition Council as a control mechanism in the economic field

The Competition Council as a control mechanism in the economic field

Romania ∙ The Romanian Competition Council: Towards Becoming a Markets’ Authority

Romania ∙ The Romanian Competition Council: Towards Becoming a Markets’ Authority

Denmark ∙ Insufficient Market Analysis: The Danish Eastern High Court Overturns Decision from the Danish Competition Council

Denmark ∙ Insufficient Market Analysis: The Danish Eastern High Court Overturns Decision from the Danish Competition Council

The new dynamics in competition law and the role of the Competition Council within it

The new dynamics in competition law and the role of the Competition Council within it

Personal liability of managers of undertakings for infringements of competition law in the Republic of Lithuania: the sanctions regime from the perspective of the principle of legal certainty

This article focuses on the personal liability of managers of undertakings for breaches of competition law. This article starts with a review of the sanction regime for managers of undertakings according to the Competition law of the Republic of Lithuania. Reviewed are legal provisions and judicial practice of the Lithuanian courts starting from 2017, that is, when the first request to sanction a manager of an undertaking was submitted to the court by the Competition Council (CC). It is pointed out that in most cases the courts do not fully accept the requests of the CC with respect to the severity of the sanctions to be imposed on managers. The second part of the Article comprehensively analyses the case-law of administrative courts of the Republic of Lithuania, and presents key elements of the imposition of sanctions on company managers. Firstly, in exceptional circumstances, courts may impose a lower penalty than the one specified by competition law. Secondly, the courts may impose both, the main sanction as well as an additional one, or any of them. Thirdly, the level of sanctions should be determined the light of the fines imposed on undertakings for their infringements of competition law. The article concludes with a short summary.

The Independence of Morocco's Competition Council

AbstractMorocco's Competition Council has undergone major reform since 2011. New legislation has elevated the Council from its former role as a consultative authority to an independent, financially autonomous, decision-making authority. Despite these changes, however, many questions have been raised with regard to the Council's independence, and its duty to monitor and enforce free and fair competition, as well as the sufficiency of the guarantees concerning the statutory impartiality and powers that enable the Council to fulfil its mandate independently. The Council's independence merits discussion in the debate on the optimal implementation of a competition authority, as it is relevant to good governance and the rule of law. To regulate competition effectively, it is essential that the competition regulator remains independent. However, within a democratic framework, the Council's independence must be balanced by parliamentary accountability and budgetary control.

Trader's Duties in Commercial Sale

In our economic life, traders use many contracts that allow manufactured products to reach a large number of potential customers and the material and moral rights to be transferred or constituted with a complete degree of legal security. Among these contracts, I quote for example, the commercial sale contract. This contract is not defined in Morocco's Commercial Code, which tackles only reselling purchases in the article 6 of law No 15-95, which constitutes the Moroccan Commercial Code of 1996, while the sales contract is defined and regulated by the Dahir of 1913, which constitutes the Law of Obligations and Contracts (L.O.C) without distinction between civil party and commercial one. In this context, there is also the legalization of several types of commercial sales through the Consumer Protection Law and the Free Prices and Competition Law, which is applied between traders and professionals in general. In this context, the importance of this research lies in determining the obligations of the parties in the commercial sale, because of their absence in the law of distribution and the diversity of the actors in the commercial sale contract. It will be through an analytical study of this topic. This study showed the inability of the above-mentioned laws to regulate trade, which requires reviewing of the Code of trade and the competencies of the Competition Council. In this context, we ask the question: What are the seller's obligations in the commercial sales contract? To study this subject, we will determine the seller's obligations under both contract code and competition law. Keywords: contract, commitment, producer, distributor, competition.

Analysis of real estate market in United Kingdom

Abstract Most people make very few real estate transactions on life transactions, and these, in addition to the fact that the most important financial transaction in which they are involved, also have a high degree of complexity from a legal and financial point of view. This finding is valid in all countries with market-based economic systems, regardless of their degree of development. The three elements that are common to real estate transactions in these states are: meeting demand with supply, transfer of property rights, and mortgage financing. Over time, each of these elements has been in the attention of the world’s competition authorities in general and the Competition Council in particular. Activity in the UK real estate market has always been at European economic events, and its action is very important, manifesting itself both as an international trigger - a conclusive example would be the “subprime” residential crisis in the United States. and an important transmission mechanism to the real economy, which affects the transactions carried out, influencing mortgages, etc. or the effective application of competition rules. However, these measures require the construction of a consistent argument that address both the causes of these anti - competitive restrictions and their effects on consumers. It is also necessary to quantify the possible effects that they can have reforms in this area, as well as a comparison of the results obtained with empirical evidence from the states in which these reforms were undertaken.

Implementation of the ECN+ Directive ∙ Lithuania: Investigative and Sanctioning Powers of the Lithuanian Competition Council - Making a Strong NCA

Implementation of the ECN+ Directive ∙ Lithuania: Investigative and Sanctioning Powers of the Lithuanian Competition Council - Making a Strong NCA

Can statistical methods help prove excessiveness of dominant firm's prices Evidence from the Tunisian Competition Council

Can statistical methods help prove excessiveness of dominant firm's prices Evidence from the Tunisian Competition Council

The challenges of regulating and enforcing competition law (Bucharest 14-15 November 2019)


 
 
 On 14 – 15 November 2019, the Faculty of Law of the Bucharest University, particularly the Centre of Competition Law Studies, and the Competition Council of Romania co-organized the interna- tional scientific conference “The Challenges of Regulating and Enforcing Competition Law”. The conference’s scientific committee led by Adriana Almăşan put together senior scholars affiliated with universities of fourteen European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hun- gary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), the judge of the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the president of the Competition Council of Romania (Romanian national competition authority) to discuss challenges and limits of substantive and procedural competition law. The conference was held in Aula Magna of the Bucharest University with more than 300 registered participants. The conference was split into the introductory panel, seven panels (not strictly focused only on one issue) and the conference was followed by the seminar for judges from the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Courts of Appeal.
 
 

Standstill Obligation Must Be Applied Only to Operations Contributing to Lasting Change in Control of Target Undertaking (C-633/16 EY v Konkurrencerådet)

Case C-633/16 Ernst & Young P/S v Konkurrencerådet [2018] OJ C 259, Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Fifth Chamber) of 31 May 2018 The CJEU has issued its judgment in respect of the request for a preliminary ruling related to an alleged Danish gun-jumping case, concerning the acquisition by Ernst & Young P/S of KPMG DK companies. The main proceedings concerned the appeal by Ernst & Young P/S against the Danish Competition Council’s Decision under which KPMG DK companies had infringed the standstill obligation under the Danish Law on Competition. The CJEU has clarified that the scope of the standstill obligation must be interpreted as meaning that a concentration is implemented only by a transaction which, in whole or in part, in fact or in law, contributes to the change in the control of the target undertaking. Following this reasoning, the CJEU has considered that the termination notice of a cooperation agreement has not established an infringement of the standstill obligation, having considered that the notice has not given Ernst & Young P/S control over KPMG DK companies.

L’influence Des Pratiques Marketing Des Laboratoires Pharmaceutiques Sur L’éthique De La Fonction Médicale Au Maroc

In Morocco and unlike the first world countries, and with the absence of the ethical code of medical promotion, a lot of pharmaceutical companies use the gifts policy in order to influence the doctors prescribing to the patients. Concerning the Moroccan pharmaceutical industry, a study made by the competition council in 2011 showed that the existence of dubious practices that goes against the patient’s interest. These practices are often materialized by public relations actions between the stakeholders operating in the medical field in the doctor’s favor, especially the aspects of the heavy and expensive pathologies. While medicine is usually governed by some very strict rules of ethnics and morals, this article aims to analyze the nature of the links that governs the relationship between the pharmaceutical laboratories and the doctors of different specialties; different scales and different areas in Morocco. The article will present a set of elements that demonstrate on the basis of the sample studied that the relationship between the various stakeholders operating in the medical sector is still not healthy, and that it is strongly impacted by material interests. to the detriment of patients, hence the need to involve professional and state actors for the implementation of a strict ethical code.

Considerations Regarding the Attributions of the Prefect in the Field of State Aid

In recent years the prefect (in his capacity as representative of the Government at the local level) gained tasks relating to domestic proceedings in the field of state aids granted by local government authorities to various beneficiaries. The article aims at establishing to what extend this procedure (which is part of the domestic proceedings concerning the appropriateness analysis that is carried, prior to notification procedure to the European Commission by the national authority, by the Competition Council), is liable to affect the way the prefect carries out the legality review for acts issued by local administrative authorities.

Romania ∙ A Closer Look at the Recent Practice of the Romanian Competition Council in Public Procurement Cases

Romania ∙ A Closer Look at the Recent Practice of the Romanian Competition Council in Public Procurement Cases

Detection of abusively low prices in Tunisian public procurement using control charts

In Tunisian competition law, abusively low price (ALP) is considered as an anti-competitive practice and it is frequently applied by bidders in public procurement. For the detection of ALPs, the Tunisian Competition Council (TCC) is still working with a classical approach which does not rely on a scientific decision rule and may lead to wrong decisions. To overcome this issue, this paper proposes a new approach for detecting ALPs in public procurement using control charts, which works as follows. In a first step, a control chart for reference prices of goods and services is constructed. In a second step, the proposed bidders' tenders are compared with the results of the constructed control chart. Bidders' prices located below the lower control limit are considered as ALPs, while those situated above the upper control limit are considered as cover biddings. To show the effectiveness of our proposed approach, we applied it to two real cases of Tunisian public procurement. Results demonstrated that our proposed approach performs better than the TCC's approach not only in detecting ALPs, but also in revealing cover biddings.