Amendments To Competition Act On Horizon

The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (the Ministry) is contemplating significant amendments to Slovenia's antitrust and merger control proceedings and has prepared a draft amendment1 to the Prevention of Restriction of Competition Act.2

Three important novelties are being considered, alongside other changes, namely:

the Competition Protection Agency (CPA) will be allowed to impose a fine within its (main) antitrust proceeding and will no longer need to carry out a separate misdemeanour proceeding; simplified merger control proceeding will be available and concentrations with limited effect on the Slovenian market will no longer require a full (Form CO-like) notification in Slovenia; and the CPA will gain further (antitrust) investigation and fining powers. For now, the Ministry has not confirmed when the proposed amendments will be placed in the National Assembly's legislative proceeding and it remains unclear when the draft amendment will come into effect and in what form.

Antitrust proceeding amendments

Slovenia is one of the few EU member states which legislated a two-phase proceeding for competition law infringements. The CPA must first establish an infringement in an administrative proceeding and only impose a fine later in a misdemeanour proceeding. Both proceedings are subject to separate appeals in front of different appellate courts.

This division enables the legal entities involved to benefit from all criminal procedural law guarantees and discuss separately the lawfulness of the alleged anti-competitive conduct and imposed fine. However, proceedings are thereby prolonged and, in most cases, a significant amount of time passes between the CPA's infringement and fining decisions.

In this respect, the draft amendment introduces a new so-called 'administrative sanctioning proceeding', which combines both phases, while at the same time will (allegedly) allow the implicated legal entities to benefit fully from all criminal procedural law guarantees. It also introduces an option for legal entities to settle with the CPA and receive a 20% fine reduction if they admit to the CPA's allegations.

The draft amendment also gives the CPA a new investigative tool - namely, the power to collect oral explanations from legal representatives, employees and former employees of individual legal entities even before an inspection has been formally initiated. This is in addition to the CPA's current options, which allow information to be...