President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr Miloje Obradović took part, together with his colleague Marija Antić, in the 18th Session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development – UNCTAD, held in Geneva.

During the IGE session, the document titled “Guiding Policies and Procedures under the UN Set on Competition” was adopted, drafted to reflect an initiative presented by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation – FAS, in cooperation with competition authorities of Japan, USA, Hungary, Germany, Croatia, Italy, and Austria. The Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia also took an active role in the previous period, working together with colleagues from other competition authorities in preparing the final version of this document, which should contribute to the increased efficiency of competition authorities in finding the best common solutions in curbing anticompetitive behaviors.

During the session, Dr Obradović had a series of bilateral discussions with the heads of various global competition authorities, aimed at exchanging experiences towards the establishment of a mechanism for more qualitative work in securing a level playing field for all undertakings. The joint position reaffirmed the view that one of the main challenges in harmonizing competition policy and law relates to the increasingly more digitally mediated economy, as well as that the modern fight against anticompetitive conduct of undertakings is increasingly less confined within national boundaries, thus making the reinforced international cooperation in this area imperative and essential.

The heads and senior officials from more than 50 competition authorities from around the world have participated in the 18th Session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy, in addition to representatives of international institutions and academia, international organizations, etc.

Dr Miloje Obradović, President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, and Bojana Tošić, Acting Director of the Public Policy Secretariat of the Republic of Serbia, have signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions.

The Memorandum aims to provide a framework for more intensified cooperation between the Commission and the Public Policy Secretariat in regulatory impact assessments on market competition during the process of adoption of regulations by the Government, in order to enable timely identification of potential adverse effects of draft regulations on competition.

The improvement of the quality and impact of regulations is thus ensured, made in order to achieve as qualitative as possible regulatory environment, which directly affects the improvement of the business climate in the Republic of Serbia.

The Memorandum is signed in the light of the enhanced implementation of the Serbia Investment Climate Project, implemented by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Serbia, and endorsed by the British Embassy in Belgrade and the UK Good Governance Fund, whose representatives also attended the signing ceremony.

The Serbia Investment Climate Project aims at enhancing the business environment by reducing the administrative burden on the industry – by streamlining 1,750 administrative procedures for obtaining licenses, permits and approvals, and digitizing 100 procedures, in addition to eliminating practices that adversely affect the development of competition.

The intensification of cooperation between the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia and the Korean Fair Trade Commission – KFTC, created space for the additional exchange of knowledge implemented under the study trip component. In that way, representatives of the CPC Administrative and Professional Service, Nina Vasić and Marija Petrović, as designated CPC officials, have participated in a two-week KFTC internship program held in South Korea, in June this year.

The objective of the internship program was learning about the functioning and mandate of this state institution of the Republic of Korea, perceived as one of the most efficient in the world, in addition to sharing experiences with representatives of other countries who were also KFTC guests, in order to improve the implementation of competition law and policy and its advocacy.

This year’s selection of the key internship topics made by Korean colleagues related to the competition law analysis with a particular focus placed on tools for the detection of restrictive practices, which also served as a good opportunity for the Commission to present its enforcement record and to make South Korean colleagues familiar with the operating methods in the competition policy domain in the Republic of Serbia.
During the internship, representatives of the CPC Administrative and Professional Service also had an opportunity to meet with KFTC Chairman, Sang-Jo Kim.

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia has reached the Conclusion, dismissing the proposal for assessment of constitutionality of the provision of Article 45 of the Law on Protection of Competition. The proposal for assessment of constitutionality of the provision of Article 45 of the said Law was made last July by the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection.

The above-mentioned provision of Article 45 of the Law relates to the obligation of the Commission for Protection of Commission to adopt a measure, at the request of a party, protecting the source of information or specific data if it is evaluated that the interest of that applicant is justified and substantially more important than the public interest in terms of the subject of said request.

The assessment of the Commissioner that the provisions of Article 45 of the Law on Protection of Competition governing “safeguard measures” with respect of information as implemented by the Commission for Protection of Competition are contrary to the arrangements made under the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, is dismissed by the Constitutional Court in its conclusion reached during the session held on 25 April this year.

The Commission for Protection of Competition welcomes this move made by the Constitutional Court, noting that it contributes to the legal certainty of undertakings operating in the Republic of Serbia, but also to the harmonization of practice in cases pending before the Commission.

In proceedings pending before the competent competition authorities, including the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia, but also the EU Directorate-General for Competition and Member States’ national competition authorities, undertakings submit numerous, highly sensitive business information, such as on suppliers and buyers, value and volume of sales and purchases, market shares, reasons for entering into a merger, agreements, acts containing business plans and future development strategies, etc., without which the Commission could not exercise its competences entrusted to it by the Law. – The disclosure of such information to the third parties could result in serious harm for the same undertakings providing the information, which caused the introduction of a rule in the comparative practice governing modus operandi of the competition authorities not to disclose nor make available any information or documentation containing trade secrets or other business sensitive information.

Such practice is also generally accepted in the EU competition law, since the EC Notice on the rules for access to the Commission file in antitrust cases, Guidance on the preparation of public versions of merger decisions, as well as the Guidance on the preparation of public versions of Commission Decisions adopted under the Merger Regulation, provide examples which confirm that information on buyers, distributors, market plans, costs and prices, as well as sales strategies or other commercially valuable plans need to be considered a trade secret whose access to file must be refused. Similar position and competences of national competition authorities are also reconfirmed by the Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European Parliament to empower the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market.

The Commission for Protection of Competition is accountable for its work to the National Assembly, to which it submits annual activity reports. At the session held on March 27, 2019, the competent Parliamentary Committee discussed and adopted the 2018 Activity Report of the Commission for Protection of Competition.

At the 24th Special Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, MPs have discussed the CPC Activity Report for 2018.

In its opening statement given before the National Assembly, President of the Commission Dr Miloje Obradović presented the main elements of the Activity Report, as well as the key activities of the Commission implemented during the reporting period.
The Commission’s report, according to President Obradović, contains all key elements concerning the operations implemented within the scope of competences of the institution. During the reporting period, the Commission has increased its administrative and institutional capacities and remained focused on efficient and effective enforcement and implementation of the law, towards ensuring the most efficient protection of competition in Serbia.

“Our goal is to create a competitive market where undertakings will increase their productivity, innovations and investments, resulting in the growth, development and increased standard of living of the citizens of the Republic of Serbia. The established high level of transparency and predictability in the operations of the Commission will remain key instruments in preserving the trust in the Commission’s work in the period to come and ensuring the legal certainty of undertakings”, said CPC President Obradović when speaking to the national MPs.

Snežana Petrović, President of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, underlined “the fact that the activities implemented by the Commission and its overall competition policy operations represent one of the key pillars of the reform of the national economy, resulting from the commitment of our country to introduce a market-oriented economy and modern economic policy following a turbulent period in the previous decades. Based on experience to date, we can testify to the good example set by the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia in its work as an independent institution that practices and favors transparency of its operations, which also implies that the Commission is a subject to an assessment and control of citizens and the general public.”

The Activity Report, as well as operations of the Commission for Protection of Competition are commended by the majority of MPs in attendance, congratulating on the achieved results and supporting the continuing work of the Commission.

In addition to President Dr Obradović, CPC Council members also attended the plenary session during which the 2018 Activity Report of the Commission was discussed – Čedomir Radojčić, Mirjana Mišković-Vukašinović and Dr Veljko Milutinović, as well as the heads of the Administrative and Professional Service of the Commission for Protection of Competition.