Analiza politike zaštite konkurencije u Srbiji: dosadašnja iskustva i preporuke za unapređenje
Analysis of competition protection policy in Serbia: past experiences and recommendations for improvement

Author(s): Bojan Ristić, Veljko Mijušković
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development, EU-Legislation, Commercial Law
Published by: Evropski Pokret u Srbiji
Keywords: competition protection policy in Serbia; Commission for the Protection of Competition; comparative analysis of several countries; recommendations for improvement
Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide recommendations for improving the competition protection system of the Republic of Serbia, which can be implemented in a relatively short period of time. The basis for the implementation of these recommendations already exists, so they should be understood as a way to "fine-tune" the competition policy that has been present in Serbia for six years. Recommendations are given on the basis of a comparative analysis of the competition protection system of the European Union (EU), the United States of America (USA), but also the competition protection system of individual EU member states with a longer tradition in dealing with competition policy in relation to Serbia. The core of the competition protection system in the institutional sense consists of the Commission for the Protection of Competition, which is responsible for implementing the Law on the Protection of Competition, and the Administrative Court, which exercises judicial review of the Commission's decisions. In the work, we will primarily deal with issues of better efficiency and effectiveness in the functioning of the mentioned core, but also the connection of the core with other elements of the system. In a broader sense, the competition protection system, in addition to the Commission and competent courts, consists of the ministry responsible for trade, registered consumer associations, agencies for public procurement control and state aid control, as well as all sector regulators. The seven recommendations in the work relatively cover and deal with the issue of strengthening the Commission's independence and strengthening the professional and personnel structure of the Commission by increasing human resources and reducing the number of cases processed by the Commission during the year. The reduction would first of all relate to the excessive number of market concentrations that unnecessarily burden the scarce capacities of the Commission, but also increase the costs of the company's operations. In addition to strengthening the professional capacities and independence of the Commission, the recommendations will also include strengthening the professional capacities of the Administrative Court, because it turns out that the judges' lack of understanding of the economic content of competition law can become a stumbling block to the correct decisions of the Commission. The recommendations will also indicate the need for more intensive communication and cooperation of the Commission with other state and non-state bodies whose actions have a significant impact on the conditions of competition on domestic markets. Finally, in the last recommendation, we will point out the importance of informing and educating the general public about the importance of competition protection.

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