CEE Legal Matters
In-depth coverage of the news and newsmakers that shape Europe's emerging markets
On 9 August 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament passed an extensive set of amendments to the competition law. These currently await signature by the President and are expected to come into force on 1 January 2024, save for certain provisions that will become effective after martial law is lifted.
The public procurement tool is intended to prevent foreign subsidies (as defined in Art. 3 FSR) from distorting competition in the internal market. This happens when companies are able to submit unduly advantageous bids that drive competitors unsupported by state funds out of the market, for example because they are subject to the strict prohibition of intra-EU State aid under Art. 107(1) TFEU. The need to counteract market-distorting subsidies from third countries is "particularly pronounced" in public procurement, since public contracts are financed with taxpayers' money.
The content of communications recorded by criminal law enforcement authorities (LEAs) and traffic and location data; Not only voice communications, but also electronic messages made not only from a mobile phone, but also from landlines and other devices; Records of surveillance of persons and property by the LEAs. This and other information have so far reached the Czech national competition authority (Czech NCA) without being able to use it legally as evidence in the proceedings.
The Court of Justice’s strike on protectionism in favor of ‘strategic companies’ in the Member States.
The Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 on Foreign Subsidies Distorting the Internal Market (FSR) formally entered into force on 12 January 2023, but the regime did not apply until 12 July 2023. On the same day, the respective Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1441 was published in the Official Journal.
As we previously announced, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) issued a ruling in the CK Telecoms case last week, annulling the CK Telecoms judgment and referring the case back to the General Court (“Court”). This appeal was in response to the Court’s decision on May 28, 2020, invalidating the European Commission’s (“EC“) ban on the acquisition of Telefonica Europe Plc by Hutchison 3G UK Investments Ltd. In this article, we delve deeper into the background of this important case and the reasoning behind the CJEU ruling.
On 10 July 2023, the Agency for the Protection of Competition of Montenegro initiated a proceeding against the Association of Tourist Agencies of Montenegro for an alleged breach of the Competition Law.
