Inspections in Private Premises Under Slovak Competition Law: Did the Implementation of the ECN+ Directive Miss the Point?

• Authors: Mária T. Patakyová , Mária Patakyová

Abstracts

FR

Nous sommes à une époque où les géants de la technologie sont de plus en plus puissants, où il existe des moyens subtils de parvenir à une collusion par le biais d‘algorithmes, et où le travail à domicile est une nouvelle normalité. On devrait s’attendre à ce que les autorités de la concurrence disposent d’outils appropriés pour enquêter sur toute violation au droit de la concurrence, même dans ces conditions difficiles. Les inspections sont sans doute l’outil d’enquête le plus puissant dont disposent les autorités de la concurrence. Bien qu’elles soient très souvent effectuées dans des locaux professionnels, il peut également être nécessaire de fouiller des locaux privés. Le règlement 1/2003 reconnaît cette nécessité depuis près de vingt ans. La directive ECN+ prévoit que les législations nationales en matière de concurrence confèrent à leurs autorités de concurrence le pouvoir d’inspecter des locaux non professionnels. Comment cela a-t-il été mis en œuvre dans l’ordre juridique slovaque? À quels obstacles l’autorité slovaque de la concurrence seraitelle confrontée si elle souhaitait effectuer une inspection dans des locaux privés? Telles sont les questions posées par cet article. Celui-ci constate que, bien que la législation elle-même semble conforme à la directive ECN+, toute tentative d’inspection dans des locaux privés serait difficile. En particulier, nous examinons les insuffisances liées au gardien qui devrait être présent lors de l‘inspection; et nous présentons les solutions de lege ferenda.

EN

We face the era when tech giants are getting ever more powerful, when there are subtle ways of collusion via algorithms, and when home offices are the new normal. One would expect competition authorities to have suitable tools to investigate any infringement of competition law even under these difficult conditions. Inspections are arguably the most powerful investigatory tool within the realm of the powers of competition authorities. Although inspections are very often conducted in business premises, there might be a need to search private premises too. Regulation 1/2003 has recognised this need for almost two decades. The ECN+ Directive expects national competition law to provide their competition authorities with the power to inspect non-business premises. How was this provision transposed into the Slovak legal order? What obstacles would the Slovak Antimonopoly Office (Slovak NCA) face if it wanted to conduct an inspection on private premises? These are the questions asked in this article. The article finds that, although the legislation itself seems in compliance with the ECN+ Directive, any attempt to conduct an inspection on private premises would be difficult. Particularly, we look into shortcomings related to the institution of the guardian who should be present during an inspection; and we present solutions de lege ferenda.

Keywords

EN

ECN+ Directive 2019/1; inspections; private premises; non-business premises; Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic; Act No. 187/2021 Coll

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Warszawski. Wydział Nauk Ekonomicznych
• Journal: Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies
• Year: 2023
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 27
• Pages: 57-81

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Mária T. Patakyová

• Comenius University in Bratislava

• https://orcid.org/0000000156402381

author

Mária Patakyová

• Comenius University in Bratislava

• https://orcid.org/0009000943394939

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Identifiers

DOI

10.7172/1689-9024.YARS.2023.16.27.2

Biblioteka Nauki

20679092