During the reporting period many activities were conducted that contributed to developing and diversifying the Competition Council`s cooperation partnerships with its foreign counterparts.
Under the cooperation with the colleagues from the United States of America, the Competition Council received support from Federal Trade Commission (FTC) representatives through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) during 2016-2018. There were provided several training sessions in the field of unfair competition, cartel detection and use of information technologies for collecting evidence during dawn raids.
In order to achieve the European vector of foreign policy of the Republic of Moldova, the Competition Council has undertaken a series of actions directed to the initiation, development and deepening the cooperation with EU countries, including Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Hungary, etc.
The Moldovan-Slovak cooperation in the field of competition is based on the bilateral cooperation agreement between the competition authorities of the Republic of Moldova and Slovakia, signed in Bratislava on 20 November 2014.
The agreement was signed on the occasion of the official visit to Slovakia of the delegation of the Competition Council, headed by Mrs. Viorica CĂRARE, the President of the Competition Council of the Republic of Moldova.
During the meeting on this occasion, the Parties expressed their willingness to further strengthen their mutual relations by extending joint cooperation to a wide range of areas. Signing this agreement will facilitate the exchange of experience and information between authorities by providing support in international case investigations and launching partnerships under European projects.
Thus, during the period 13-14 May 2015 the representatives of the Competition Council of the Republic of Moldova paid a study visit to Bratislava (Slovakia), to the exchange experience in competition and state aid area. The project was implemented with the support of the Slovak Agency for Development and International Cooperation (SlovakAid) and the Slovak Embassy to the Republic of Moldova.
The purpose of the visit was to take over the good practices of the European Commission and the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic in the field of state aid.
Thus, during the meeting with the State Aid Department of the Ministry of Finance of Slovakia, there were discussed the preparation of the Annual State Aid Report, the state aid experience in the pre-accession phase of the Slovak Republic, the standards applied by the European authorities when reporting and monitoring state aid, the role of local public authorities in the implementation of state aid law, experience in the development of state aid schemes. At the same time, the representatives of the Competition Council of the Republic of Moldova participated in the International Conference on the topic “New tendencies in the field of the competitive normative framework in Slovakia and the European Union” organized by the competition authority of Slovakia.
During the conference, the experts from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the UK and the European Union Commission approached topics related to legislative novelties, decisions of competition authorities and courts, carrying out inspections according to Slovak and European national legislation, economic approach to vertical effects (analyses in the sphere of cartels and economic mergers).
The experience and knowledge acquired will be useful in further harmonizing competition and state aid legislation with the Community acquis.
This project represents a continuation of the bilateral cooperation based on the agreement between the Competition Council of the Republic of Moldova and the Competition Authority of the Slovak Republic.
In the context of Moldovan-Estonian competition partnership, the study visit to Tallinn, contributed to assimilating the best practices of Estonian Competition Authority in the field of competition law enforcement.
With reference to the Moldovan-Romanian competition partnership, cooperation relations have been performed under the Cooperation Agreement on Competition Policy between the Competition Council of Romania (CCR) and the National Agency for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Moldova, signed on 19.11.2007 in Bucharest. In this context, multiple study visits were paid in Bucharest, the purpose of which was to take experience from the similar authority in Romania with regard to application of Community law on competition and state aid.
In the context of the transition from ANPC to the Competition Council, a particular relevance had the exchange of experience with the competition authority in Latvia for strengthening the institutional capacity of the Competition Council.
Also, in 2012-2013 were conducted joint activities in bilateral relations with competition authorities of CIS countries, such as Armenia, Ukraine, etc.
With reference to the Moldovan-Ukrainian competition and state aid partnership is notable the participation of Competition Council of the Republic of Moldova delegation at the joint session of the Competition Authority and deputies of Ukraine Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in March 2013, where Moldova`s experience with regard to the adjustment of state aid legislation with the acquis communautaire was introduced.
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