President of the Commission, Dr. Miloje Obradović, spoke at the meeting of the Subcommittee for Internal Market and Competition, held in Belgrade.

Dr. Obradović introduced EC representatives to all activities concerning the implementation of the Law on Protection of Competition and the degree of compliance of national competition regulations with EU acquis, which fall under the commitments set out in Article 73 of the Stabilization and Association Agreement. He also reminded the audience that the Commission is currently drafting a new competition act, which should contribute to further enhanced implementation of competition policy, in addition to its full compliance with other regulations of the Republic of Serbia, foremost with the Law on General Administrative Procedure.

The Commission President also presented data on results of competition policy implementation during the previous period, noting that the executive authorities in a growing number of cases accept the opinions issued by the Commission for Protection of Competition, proving crucial in the context of ensuring a level playing field for all undertakings.

In his address, the Commission President underlined that institution which he heads, in full and complete compliance with the possibilities and competences, strives to contribute to creating projects which would bring the subject of competition policy closer to judges towards achieving professional specialization in competition cases, which would also have an impact on the increasingly efficient implementation of the Law on Protection of Competition. In that context, President Obradović underlined, as part of the EU Twinning project where the Commission for Protection of Competition is a project beneficiary, a series of workshops will soon be held where representatives of the judicial branch will have an opportunity to acquire qualitative know-hows necessary for enhanced implementation of competition policy in the Republic of Serbia.

“The Commission continues to work intensely on raising the level of awareness on the importance of competition policy in Serbia, while also implements an open-door policy towards all interested parties when drafting regulations, all directed at ensuring the Commission’s full operational transparency”, President of the Commission, Dr. Miloje Obradović, said to his Brussels counterpart.

During the meeting of the Subcommittee, which is regularly held as part of Serbia’s EU accession process, is said that our country is following the dynamics of competition policy development in the EU, and endeavors to align, to the extent possible, related national standards against EU standards. That has also been reconfirmed by the EC assessment given in its recently published 2017 Progress Report, where is underlined that competition policy implementation capacity has increased, both in the number of antitrust cases and the relative size and significance of companies under investigation, as well as that the Commission constantly improves its work, which positively affects the enabling environment for business development in the Republic of Serbia.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović, received a visit from Mr. Hiroshi Yamada, Senior Official at the Japan Fair Trade Commission – JFTC.

Dr. Obradović introduced Mr. Yamada to activities and plans of the Commission for Protection of Competition and emphasized the importance of the support provided to the Commission by Japan, as a country, Embassy of Japan in Belgrade, as well as by the Japan Fair Trade Commission. In that regard, he underlined the need to further deepen cooperation, both under the technical assistance programs and exchange program opportunities for competition policy experts.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission representative presented plans of this authority for expansion of cooperation with Serbian colleagues. The JFTC is very interested in supporting Serbia towards further compliance of national legislative framework against EU acquis. Also, Mr. Yamada presented a readiness of this institution to provide technical assistance to the Commission for Protection of Competition, and also presented an invitation to the Commission’s representatives to attend a conference within the ICN Merger Workshop, to be held in November this year in Tokyo.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission – JFTC, marked 70 years of history as an enforcement agency last year, and also celebrated the 70th anniversary of the implementation of the Antimonopoly Act in Japan.

The meeting was also attended by First Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in Belgrade, Ms. Atsuko Shiotani, member of the Council of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Veljko Milutinović, and Senior Advisor at the Division for Competition Advocacy and International Affairs, Ms. Nina Vasić.

On June 18, 2018, the Commission for Protection of Competition enacted a decision in the repeated proceedings, complying with the judgment of the Administrative Court. The said judgment annulled the previous decision of the Commission on the establishment of competition infringement by company EPS Distribucija and referred back the case to the Commission for assessment.

As in the case of earlier decision-making process, the Commission found on this occasion as well that company EPS Distribucija holds a dominant position which has been abused.