Antitrust law and legislation in Slovakia during Covid-19

The ongoing Corona crisis poses a number of problems – including legal ones – for businesses in all countries. The new market challenges may require cooperation between companies or taking unilateral actions that are particularly sensitive from the antitrust perspective. The antitrust rules do not simply cease to apply during the crises, but the authorities can be more flexible. Thus, companies must ask themselves what freedoms the current rules give them to take actions that would improve their situation.

The competition authorities have already confirmed in public statements that they are willing to accept certain justifications to overcome or reduce the negative impact of the crisis. In a joint statement dated 23 March 2020, the European Competition Network (“ECN”) - which encompasses the national competition authorities in the EU member states and the European Commission - acknowledged “that this extraordinary situation may trigger the need for companies to cooperate in order to ensure the supply and fair distribution of scarce products to all consumers.” Some countries (e.g. Norway, in the case of the entire transport sector) have also applied a temporary exemption from the ban on cartels.

The current crisis leaves room for specific actions by the competition authorities at national level. Thus, it is important to look at the current state of play on antitrust rules in various jurisdictions. Here below we have summarised the opportunities and risks under competition law arising from the crisis in Slovakia.

The Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (AMO) has partaken in the joint statement of the European antitrust authorities and the European Commission (under the ECN) on the application of competition law in the face of the current crisis.

In line with this joint statement, the AMO does not intend to actively interfere with the market, unless necessary. It stresses that competition rules are flexible enough to reflect the social and economic consequences of this crisis.

“It is necessary that medical accessories and protective material that are currently needed remain available at competitive prices. The competition authorities will also monitor possible “abuses of the situation” and intervene in cases of cartelisation of the market or the abuse of a dominant position.”, the AMO stated.

Current competition rules enable some restrictions of competition in compliance with EU rules. For example, the AMO emphasis the possibility of manufacturers to set maximum prices for their products to limit unjustified price increase within the distribution chain.

In case of doubt, it is recommended consulting the competition authority which, in our experience, is typically very cooperative. The request for a statement will not likely be a practical option as the AMO has the deadline of 30 (or even 60 in complex matters) business days for that.

Apart from the joint statement, the AMO has not communicated any further position in respect to the current situation. From our experience, we understand that the AMO will closely monitor the situation on the market, the approach of other competition authorities, any complaints received and interfere, if necessary, if any abusive practices are found unjustified.

Like most authorities and offices, the AMO cancelled all official hours for public except for the visits agreed in advance and the registry opened daily for 2 hours for filings. The AMO prefers electronic communication, including any filings.

To protect citizens’ rights, however, the AMO will continue to receive notices regarding potential violations of competition law by post, e-mail or through the following platform: https://www.antimon.gov.sk/how-to-file-a-complaint/

For the moment, the notification requirements and the deadlines for reviewing mergers in Slovakia remain unchanged. There has been no communication (yet) from the AMO regarding expected delays in reviewing notifications or issuing merger decisions.

On 20 March 2020, the AMO (following the governmental recommendations for public authorities) announced that it will deliver decisions only to electronic mailboxes with certified signatures, where possible (electronic mailboxes are mandatory for all attorneys in Slovakia). If not otherwise possible, the decision will be delivered by post.