Communication
The aim of the protection of market competition is primarily to create benefits for consumers and equal conditions for all entrepreneurs on the market, who, acting in accordance with the existing rules and competing on the market with the quality, price and innovation of their products and services, contribute to the overall development of the economy.
New Memorandum of Cooperation between Kosovo Competition Authority and CCA
Upon the proposal of the representatives of the Kosovo Competition Authority the national competition authorities agreed to revive the agreement on cooperation that was singed as early as in 2010.
Today, two presidents signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation whereas the experts of the Croatian Competition Agency (CCA) held presentations about its experience in handling cases and the negotiations of Croatia in the EU accession process with respect to competition policy.
Within the meaning of the new agreement two national competition authorities will cooperate in the area of implementation of competition law and policy, exchange experts and cases, organize study visits and experts training, carry out consultations, organize mid- and high-level-meetings and exchange documents and other written material linked with the case practice of both authorities. Similar agreements on cooperation have already been signed by the CCA with its peers in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.
It should be noted that the CCA’s expert Mirta Kapural, PhD, is at the same time a short-term expert for competition policy in the Twinnig Project: Support Kosovo institutions on SAA implementation in Kosovo, carried out jointly by Croatia, Germany and Poland.
The Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and Kosovo entered into force on 1 April 2016 with a deadline for implementation in 2026. The Kosovo Competition Authority (AUTORITETI KOSOVAR I KONKURRENCËS) was founded in October 2008. In 2016 it changed its structure and today it has 23 employees. The managing authority is the Commission consisting of its presindent and four memebers, and Administration that consists of the expert team that actually handles the cases. The first Kosovo Competiton Act came into force in 2010 and was revised in 2014. Currently, the latter one has been revised again in line with the EU acquis communautaire in the area of competition policy.