On 20 May 2023, the amendment to the Polish Act on Competition and Consumers Protection (the “Amendment”) will enter into force. The main aim of the amendment is to transpose Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 to authorise the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market (the “ECN+”).
Indeed, the amendment follows the ECN+ stipulations by introducing several changes to the existing public enforcement regime and powers of the Polish Competition Authority (the “PCA”). These include, in particular, the leniency programme, framework for intra-EU cooperation and liability of business associations.
By relying on the EU competition law concept of “undertaking”, the amendment also tightens up the liability for antitrust infringements, namely:
From the procedural perspective, the removal of the statement of objections as the document presented to the party before the closure of antitrust proceedings is noteworthy. Instead, the objections would be presented at the beginning of the antitrust proceedings.
In terms of the institutional independence, the Prime Minister will maintain his power to appoint the head of the PCA, but he will no longer be able to freely revoke such person – instead the head of the PCA would be appointed for five years with the possibility of being re-appointed once. The head of the PCA’s term of office would be five years (with the possibility of being re-appointed once). By virtue of law, the current head of the PCA will commence his first term of office at the day the amendment enters into force.
Further, the amendment goes beyond the ECN+ scope by introducing the following:
For more information, please contact Szymon Golebiowski or Marcin Alberski.