The Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) carried out unannounced inspections (dawn raids) in the ferry connection of Perama (Attica) - Paloukia (Salamis), in the context of an ex-officio investigation into the sector for ferry services, for possible anticompetitive practices consisting in a horizontal agreement and abuse of a dominant position in breach of Articles 1 and 2 of Law 3959/2011, as in force, as well as of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) by undertakings active in the above ferry line.

This line has the largest ferry traffic in Greece and ranks 7th  among all the ports of the European Union(on the basis of the 2022 passenger traffic data). According to Eurostat, in 2022, about 7.1 million passengers and 3.7 million vehicles were transported on the Perama – Paloukia line^[1].

It is noted that unannounced inspections (dawn raids) are carried out at the premises of undertakings or associations of undertakings where evidence of anti-competitive practices in the investigated markets can be collected, and they do not prejudge an involvement of the undertakings inspected in an anti-competitive behavior nor do they prejudice the outcome of the investigation.

Legal Framework

The HCC enforces Greek and EU antitrust rules in the Greek territory (Articles 1, 1A and 2 of Greek Law 3959/2011 and Articles 101 and 102 TFEU).

• Article 1 of Law no. 3959/2011 and Article 101 of the TFEU prohibit anticompetitive agreements, decisions or concerted practices between undertakings and decisions of associations of undertakings that prevent, restrict or distort competition.
• Article 1A of Law no. 3959/2011 prohibits unilateral practices that constitute invitation to collude or future price announcements to competitors.
• Article 2 of Law no. 3959/2011 and Article 102 of the TFEU prohibit the abuse of a dominant position.

The HCC, within the scope of its powers, investigates any suspected infringement of Greek and EU antitrust laws which is brought to its attention through complaints, applications for leniency, or other sources of information, including its whistleblower platform. The HCC imposes severe administrative sanctions on undertakings that are found to have engaged in such anti-competitive practices.

The HCC’s leniency program

An undertaking's participation in a cartel, i.e. a secret agreement among competitors to restrict competition by inter alia fixing prices or production, allocating customers or market shares, or rigging bids, may lead to significant fines from the HCC, criminal sanctions, and its elimination from public tenders and concession contracts for three (3) years from the issuance of the HCC’s decision.

The HCC’s leniency program has significant advantages for undertakings, associations of undertakings and natural persons involved in cartels, as it offers:

• Immunity from fines or reductions in administrative fines
• Immunity from, or reductions in, criminal fines, 
• Immunity from any kind of administrative sanctions

In addition, the undertakings are not barred from public tenders or concession contracts.

For more information on the HCC’s leniency program, please visit: https://www.epant.gr/en/legislation/leniency-programme.html or call +30 210 88 09 100.  

Further information on the HCC’s whistleblower tool is available on the HCC’s website, at: https://www.epant.gr/en/enimerosi/whistleblowing-system-for-citizens-business.html

^[1] See in this regard Statistics | Eurostat (europa.eu)