THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMPETITION LAW IN RELATION TO COOPERATION BETWEEN COMPETITORS
Session
Law
Description
The impact of COVID-19 on the functioning of the economy may attract companies to cooperate with their competitors, by becoming partners in so-called "cartels" in order to overcome the difficulties created by the circumstances caused by COVID-19. In this context, it is important for companies to know what they can or cannot do to deal with the current crisis from the perspective of competition law. EU Competition Law (and Kosovo Competition Law) prohibits cooperation between competitors that restricts free and effective competition. In particular, collaborations leading to price fixing, production limitation or capacity reduction are extremely harmful and severely penalized. An important question to consider is whether the COVID-19 crisis has affected, to make an exception to the application of the Competition Law. Specifically, the competition authorities have applied a softer view to possible anti-competitive practices in the context of COVID-19. This is the main question that has been raised in this paper. From the analysis of the legislation and the approach of the competition authorities at the end of this paper it has been concluded that the Competition Law although not at the same level has continued to be applied during COVID-19.
Keywords:
Covid-19, competition law, cartels, collaborations, companies, competitors.
Proceedings Editor
Edmond Hajrizi
ISBN
978-9951-550-47-5
Location
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
Start Date
30-10-2021 12:00 AM
End Date
30-10-2021 12:00 AM
DOI
10.33107/ubt-ic.2021.150
Recommended Citation
Osmanaj, Egzona and Jashari, Adnan, "THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMPETITION LAW IN RELATION TO COOPERATION BETWEEN COMPETITORS" (2021). UBT International Conference. 81.
https://knowledgecenter.ubt-uni.net/conference/2021UBTIC/all-events/81
THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMPETITION LAW IN RELATION TO COOPERATION BETWEEN COMPETITORS
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
The impact of COVID-19 on the functioning of the economy may attract companies to cooperate with their competitors, by becoming partners in so-called "cartels" in order to overcome the difficulties created by the circumstances caused by COVID-19. In this context, it is important for companies to know what they can or cannot do to deal with the current crisis from the perspective of competition law. EU Competition Law (and Kosovo Competition Law) prohibits cooperation between competitors that restricts free and effective competition. In particular, collaborations leading to price fixing, production limitation or capacity reduction are extremely harmful and severely penalized. An important question to consider is whether the COVID-19 crisis has affected, to make an exception to the application of the Competition Law. Specifically, the competition authorities have applied a softer view to possible anti-competitive practices in the context of COVID-19. This is the main question that has been raised in this paper. From the analysis of the legislation and the approach of the competition authorities at the end of this paper it has been concluded that the Competition Law although not at the same level has continued to be applied during COVID-19.