New provisions of the Competition Law came into force.
The Competition Council draws attention to the fact that on September 18, the amendments to the Competition Law introduced by the Parliament came into force, which are necessary to reform and ensure the independence of the competition authority, including the effective exercise of its powers to investigate and enforce the general principles of EU competition law. The new version of the law contains a number of changes concerning the regulation of economic concentration operations. In particular, the turnover threshold of companies that are obliged to notify about economic concentration has been doubled: economic concentration operations are subject to evaluation and are notified to the Competition Council before their implementation, when the total turnover achieved by the involved enterprises during the previous year exceeds MDL 50 million (today - MDL 25 million), and there are at least 2 enterprises involved in the operations, whose total turnover achieved on the territory of Moldova during the previous year exceeds MDL 20 million each (today - MDL 10 million). Another important provision concerns the right of the Competition Council to set its own priorities with regard to the cases it investigates - this will allow it to focus on the most important issues of the country's economy. The Competition Council's rights and duties during inspections are harmonized with the provisions of EU Directive 2019/1. The competition authority may conduct the necessary inspections at any enterprise, association of enterprises or public authority. The new provisions clarify the rules for conducting inspections to obtain evidence of competition law violations. In addition, inspectors are allowed to use various IT tools, equipment and specialized programs to identify, collect and extract relevant information during inspections. Another change will allow the Competition Council to conduct audits at various stages of the verification of alleged signs of violation, including remotely, using electronic devices. The law provides for the exclusion of any possible external interference, political interference or interference of any other nature that could call into question the impartiality of the Competition Council when making decisions within its competence. At the same time, the general provisions on the Competition Council and its areas of competence have been supplemented - it ensures the application and compliance with legislation on competition, state aid and commercial advertising laws, in the area of unfair commercial practices in domestic trade, and in the regulation of railway transportation services. The Competition Council will be able to conduct useful investigations for market insights and analysis of certain economic sectors. Such investigations will be able to form the basis of an investigation from a competition law perspective. In doing so, the Competition Council will be able to merge, separate and decouple the procedures for dealing with anti-competition law infringement cases. As the Competition Council notes, the amendments are not only a step towards harmonizing the legal framework with European rules, but also an important tool for creating a more transparent and competitive business environment, which can lead to increased investment and long-term economic prosperity. // 19.09.2023 - InfoMarket.
