Economic globalisation and the development of economic relations between Greece and other countries beyond the European Union make cooperation of the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) with competition authorities of third countries particularly important. This cooperation is not only necessary for preventing and detecting anti-competitive practices, but also, especially, for improving coordination and ensuring a coherent analysis of merger cases which are subject to approval by several competition authorities.
Over the last two years, the HCC actively participates, by taking initiatives, in both major international competition fora, including the International Competition Network (ICN), which groups hundreds of competition authorities worldwide, and the OECD Competition Division (the President of the HCC was elected as a regular member to the 2021 Bureau of the OECD Competition Committee; it is the first time that a Greek official is elected to this office) as well as in major European competition fora, such as the European Competition Network (ECN), composed of the European Commission and the competition authorities of the EU Member States.
In fact, for the first time, the HCC’s administration proceeded with a strategic plan to strengthen its international presence and influence in shaping competition policies, both in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans as well as at European level and internationally, thus reinforcing the role of Greece in these fora.
In this regard, the HCC has recently taken initiatives to strengthen and extend cooperation at a bilateral level not only with the competition authorities with which it maintains traditional relations such as with the authorities of the EU countries (especially Cyprus, with which it has already signed a Memorandum of Cooperation, see here ), but also with the competition authorities of Albania, Armenia, North Macedonia, while the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Competition Authority of Egypt −with which a broader cooperation at regional level will also be encouraged− as well as with the Competition Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, initiatives concerning cooperation with other competition authorities in the near future are already under way (for example, with the Competition Authorities of Israel, the US Federal Trade Commission, Serbia, Ukraine, the Russian FAS, among other countries) mainly aiming at providing mutual update on legislative developments, decisions and competition enforcement procedures, information exchange, cooperation in the transfer of know-how and implementation of joint projects. In this context, the signing of memoranda of cooperation between the HCC and the competition authorities of Albania, on 7.09.2021, of Northern Macedonia, on 29.09.2021 and of Armenia on 7.10.2021, is another step forward for international cooperation.
Finally, acknowledging the importance of the HCC’s international presence and the need to enhance its role in the wider geographic area, a special Directorate of International Relations and Communications was set up within the HCC, and a dedicated webpage was developed allowing the public (citizens and undertakings) to follow up on the various developments and HCC’s initiatives in this area.
