According to information provided by the EEC press service, the defendant will now receive clear conclusions regarding the charges at the end of the process, which strengthens their right to defense. The timeframes for preparing decisions on specific violations will also be reduced from 60 to 45 working days.
Under the new rules, the process of transferring cases to national antimonopoly authorities is simplified, and quarantine periods will no longer be taken into account when determining the statute of limitations, as stated in the official announcement.
Earlier, Maxim Yermolovich, Minister for Competition and Antimonopoly Regulation of the EEC, raised the issue of the need to expand the commission's powers in investigating antimonopoly violations.
He noted that for a more effective fight against violations of antimonopoly legislation committed by residents of third countries, the EEC should obtain the status of coordinator in interactions with national antimonopoly authorities, which would allow holding violators accountable in the territories of other member states of the union, ensuring coordination of actions between national competition agencies.
