Lukáš Lapšanský

The Competition policy represents one of the key sectoral policies of the European Union as well as the basic attribute of the transition from the system of centrally controlled economy towards the market economy. The relationship between the Slovak and Community anti-trust legislation in the accession phase has been evolving within two different “channels”, during which the both channels were not equally important. The article 64 of the Association Treaty between the Slovak Republic and the European Communities and its Member States regulates some anti-competition practices of entrepreneurs and public law entities provided that these practices might have the negative impact on the trade relations between the Slovak Republic and EC. However, with regard to procedural rules of examining and sanctioning of such practices, the implementation rules had referred to the own rules of both parties, which in the case of the Slovak Republic was the Act on the Protection of Economic Competition. Thus the crucial point of the relationship between both anti-trust legislations was the harmonisation of the Slovak national legislation and the acquis communautaire, regardless whether reviewed practices might or might not influence negatively trade relations between the Slovak Republic and EC.

Although only the explanatory reports of the adopted legislation explicitly acknowledged the inspiration by acquis, the inspiration was also noticeable in particular decisions of the decision-making practice of the Antimonopoly Office.

The prerequisite to qualify the subject-matter applicability of the Act on State Aid by the potential negative impact on the trade between the Slovak Republic and EC seems completely illogical considering the ambition of this law to set up the national framework of the provision of the state aid.

The Antimonopoly Office will become one of the actors implementing the antitrust acquis after the accession of the Slovak Republic into the EU. This poses a problem for the legislative power to adjust new responsibilities of the Office. The core of the relationship between the antitrust acquis and the Slovak law will be the adjustment of the implementation of certain antitrust acquis with the direct effect within the context of the Slovak legal system in general. At the same time the number of applicable merits included in the antitrust acquis is far more extensive than in the Slovak antitrust law, especially with regard to activities of public law subjects.