Personally and on behalf of the members and staff of the Commission for the Protection of Competition I welcome you to Cyprus and hope the purpose of your stay proves successful.
Firstly, allow me to remind you that the Commission was established in 1990 with enforcement of the Law on the Protection of Competition 207/89. Together with the Control of Concentrations Between Undertakings Law 22(I)/99, and several amendments to both laws, these form our competition policies. Parenthetically, it should be noted that all block exemptions are now part of our national legislation.
The Commission is assisted in enforcing the law by the Service of the Commission, under the auspices of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism up until the implementation of Law 155(I)/00 towards the end of 2000, which gave the Service independent body status in accordance with European Union harmonization guidelines. The same Law also positioned the Chairman as head of the Service on a full time basis and also provided for the appointment of the members of the Commission, a provision, which was given effect by an Order from the Council of Ministers on the 20/12/2000.
Following the above developments, the Commission immediately proceeded to staff the Service and ‘house’ the Commission and the Service, always, of course, in accordance with legislation. Inherently, the Commission is now better equipped and more able to use its powers vigorously and effectively. Moreover, along with these changes an obvious fresh drive filled with dynamism and greater flexibility became evident, which will certainly assist in the better enforcement of competition policies.
1. Caseload of the Commission
Despite the housing and manpower issues, in sharp contrast to the previous year where only thirteen decisions were reached, the Commission issued, within 2001, twenty-five decisions and, there are a further thirteen more that are still pending. The Commission, inter alia, proceeded with several ‘own initiative’ investigations into sectors of the economy such as telecommunications and banking, as well as a decision directed towards price-fixing practices of professional associations.
2. Staff and appointments
The Service Commission currently consists of four officers, all of them qualified economists and one of them holding a Masters degree in European Studies, and two lawyers under fixed term contract, both holding Masters degrees in European Law. All officers are seconded from other public authorities until the Service is staffed in accordance with its budget.
Since the beginning of this year, Dr. Phedon Nikolaides, professor at the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht, was appointed as a consultant to the Commission. Dr. Nicolaides, as an expert in competition matters, is expected to greatly assist the Commission in carrying out its tasks.
Recently, Mr. Leontios Pericleous, a Senior Officer in the Competition and Consumer Protection Service of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, with extensive experience in administrative, as well as competition matters, was seconded on a part time basis (twice a week) until the Service is properly staffed.
The recently approved annual budget provides for the appointment of three officers, one of which is a senior officer position. Further, based on a supplementary budget expected to be approved by the end of April, six additional officers, two in senior positions, will be appointed. All nine appointments will be full time positions, and as a whole, the Service will be composed of over seventeen people.
3. Library and information center
We have already started building our own library according to the Commissions' needs. Amongst others, subscription to the celex database is provided for.
The creation of a Web site is a step short of becoming a reality. Officers of the Commission themselves have already designed and indexed the web pages; we now only await for the appropriate public authority to give us the green light in order to go live. The side will run in both, the Greek and the English language.
4. Organization of educational seminars
Together with Dr. Nicolaides and the appropriate authorities of the European Union, the Commission schedules seminars and conferences for its members and officers so that they stay abreast of all developments in the field of competition. Members and officers have already taken part in various seminars and workshops organized by the European Union and several conferences organized by other candidate countries and Member States.
At the local level, in order to fully familiarize professionals with, and further enhance the society's awareness of our competition policies, we have already begun conducting seminars and conferences in collaboration with bodies and organizations such as the Cyprus Bar Association and the Cyprus Chambers of Commerce.
In so far as we get a chance, we engage the attention of the mass media via interviews, formal discussions and statements; this practice not only contributes to a better understanding of our competition policies, but also to the projection of the Commission itself and its aims and objectives.
5. Conclusion
Upon full liberalization of various markets, within, of course, the time limits set by the European Union, the Commission's activities will be broadened and, as a natural consequence, the workload will increase. At the same time, however, the Commission will be able to free all forces of competition.
I sincerely believe that since the recent regulatory amendments, the progress has been, to say the least, quite satisfactory. The Commission and its Service have gained greater flexibility and consequential experience and expertise; traits that can only improve. It is also my personal belief that there will always be room for improvement.
Lastly, we the Commission and its Service are confident that Cyprus will be able to withstand the competitive pressures of the internal market resulting from the full and direct application of the acquis upon accession.
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