The Foreign Investors Council (FIC) in Serbia presented its traditional edition of the White Book 2017, an overview of the business environment in Serbia with concrete recommendations on how to improve it, as an additional contribution provided by foreign investors operating in Serbia.

This document establishes that this year as well, the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia achieved a significant progress in its operating activities, and welcomes the announcements of further advancements of legislative framework, which will enable more efficient implementation of the competition policy in Serbia.

In accordance with the assessment of the Foreign Investors Council: “The scope of the Commission’s activities in the various fields of its competences, as well as its readiness to use complex mechanisms provided for by the Law, constitute a significant progress when compared to the previous period. Also, the Commission began implementing economic analyses in the proceedings of examining infringements of competition and complex mergers in order to prove a violation. This indicates that some improvement was made in the quality of the decision-making process of the Commission in proving particularly complex violations”.

The investors’ recommendation is that the Commission should continue with the enactment of by-laws defining certain categories core to the anti-trust framework in more detail, as well as to prepare clear guidelines and instructions containing the manner of implementation of certain provisions of the Law.

“In addition, compared to the previous years, the Commission clearly made a significant effort in developing competition advocacy. Specifically, it is now publishing its opinions and decisions, issuing notifications on its activities on its official website and organizing promotional activities more frequently. This positive development is important as it contributes to the overall improvement of the current legal framework and to the general public’s and media’s better understanding of competition rules and activities and the importance of the Commission’s role, thus simultaneously raising awareness about the need for and importance of competition rules in general” – the “White Book” specifies.