2016 Amendment of the Czech Significant Market Power Act of 2009
Journal Title: Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies - Year 2016, Vol 9, Issue 14
Abstract
he Significant Market Power Act (SMPA) adopted in 2009 regulates the assessment of, and the prevention of, the abuse of market power in the sale of agricultural and food products. The Act generated many controversies from the outset, survived legislative proposals for its abolition, to be finally amended in 2016. However, this kind of legislation failed to solve most of the problems and even managed to create additional controversies. The new amendment formally simplified the actual wording of the SMPA by transposing its numerous earlier appendixes, which contained an exemplary list of prohibited forms of SMP abuse, to the actual text of the Act. It also improved transparency and clarity with respect to its earlier vague and ambiguous terminology. At the same time, the amendment seriously modified the scope and principal philosophy of the SMPA by removing the previously required “substantial detriment to economic competition” as the pre-condition of the applicability of the Act. However, since the enforcement of the SMPA falls into the scope of the activities of the Czech Office for Protection of Economic Competition (in Czech Úřad pro ochranu hospodářské soutěže, UOHS), the concerns and doubts of the business community continue to grow whether this form of regulation is appropriate after the modification of the concept.
Authors and Affiliations
Petr Frischmann, Václav Šmejkal
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP324380
- DOI 10.7172/1689-9024.YARS.2016.9.14.11
- Views 73
- Downloads 0
The Concept of Unity in the Competition Law System
The paper presents four pillars of competition law that can be recognised in the European Union and Member States, namely EU competition law, national competition law sensu stricto, national competition law sensu largo a...
Exploitative Abuse of a Dominant Position in the Bulgarian Energy Markets
In the last few years the behavior of undertakings operating in the regulated utility markets, such as energy, water and communications, has been in the focus of the Bulgarian Competition Authority (hereinafter, BCA). Ty...
The Type of Liability in Private Enforcement in Selected CEE Countries Relating to the Implementation of the Damages Directive
The article is devoted to the type of liability in selected CEE countries, namely those covered by the national reports drafted for the 2nd International Conference on Harmonization of Private Antitrust Enforcement: Cent...
National Identity as a General Principle of EU Law and itsImpact on the Obligation to Recover State Aid
Unlike other general principles of EU law, which derive from the CJ jurisprudence, the principle of national identity is based on a clear legal provision. Article 4(2) TEU stipulates that the Union shal...
Antitrust Liability in the Context of Online Platforms. Case Comment to the Preliminary Ruling of the Court of Justice of 21 January 2016 ‘Eturas’ UAB v Lietuvos Respublikos konkurencijos taryba (Case C-74/14)
In its judgment of 21 January 2016 in Case C-74/14 (hereinafter, judgment), the Court of Justice (hereinafter, CJ) responded to a preliminary question submitted by the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania. The latte...