The Law on the Protection of Competition comes into force

Last week, the new Law on the Protection of Competition entered into force, which was approved by the Assembly of Kosovo on May 13, 2022.
While competition rules have been in place for many years, the new legislation makes significant changes and, in particular, aligns Kosovo’s rules more closely with EU competition legislation and standards. Thus, among others, the following main changes have been made to the current Law in the Law on the Protection of Competition of 2022:

1. In general, the legislation has been aligned with EU Directives and Regulations;

2. The threshold for presuming a dominant position in the market has been increased to a market share of 40 percent;

3. Decisions of the Kosovo Competition Authority (AKK) will be executed regardless of appeals to the court;

4. The definitions related to the concept of entrepreneurship, the concept of mergers and acquisitions and the concepts of prohibited agreements and abuses of dominance have been improved;

5. The authority is given greater powers in relation to government decisions, making professional opinions more binding;

6. To ensure continuity (and to avoid a repeat of an operational interruption that occurred from 2013 to 2016 and again from June 2021 to June 2022) after the expiration of the mandates of the President and the members of the Commission, the new law contains a mechanism to start the replacement or reappointment process six months before the end of the mandate;

7. Investigation procedures have been further aligned with EU norms

8. The new law provides for civil damage actions by parties affected by proven violations of the law (in accordance with EU norms and best practices).

https://gzk.rks-gov.net/