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.
CCA is not a price regulator: Communication following the price increases
With respect to the repeated media references and misunderstandings relating to recent price increases the Croatian Competition Agency (CCA) wishes to clarify that its powers under the Croatian Competition Act include the assessment of restrictive agreements between undertakings and the adoption of commitments by the undertakings with the view to restoring competition, the identifying of abuse of a dominant position of an undertaking and prohibition of any further practices that would result in abuse of dominance and the adoption of committments for the elimination of harmful effects of these practices, and finally, the appraisal of concentrations that is carried out ex ante, on the basis of the in-depth legal and economic analysis within the procedures carried out by the CCA.
The CCA is a general, national regulatory authority in charge of competition in all markets, it performs exclusively the activities within its scope and powers under the Croatian Competition Act and Articles 101 and/or 102 TFEU.
Thus, the CCA is not a price regulator. It reacts to distortions of competition only where within the administrative procedure it finds that a price change is the result of a prohibited agreement between undertakings or the consequence of abuse of dominance by an undertaking in the market. For example, in the case where competing undertakings agree on the price under a prohibited agreement or where they set a minimum purchase price in the case of a vertical agreement where such an agreement restricts the right of the buyer to freely set the price (albeit the fact that the supplier may set the maximum price or the recommended price). In the case of abuse of dominance, it would mean directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices, predatory pricing or price discrimination, whereas the rebuttable presumption of dominance should exceed the 40 % market share in the relevant market.
Identical or similar prices cannot by themselves point at a cartel – a prohibited horizontal agreement between the competitors. In any cartel case the CCA must find solid evidence about the existence of an agreement between the undertakings.
Therefore, concerning the matter of price regulation, such as the price of gas, the CCA must emphasise that it is not a price regulator. Price interventions do not fall under the scope of the CCA but of other specific regulators, in this particular case, the Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency (HERA), under specific provisions.