The European Commission has published the conclusion on the compliance of the competition legislation of Ukraine with the EU acquis

The European Commission published an analytical report on Ukraine's compliance with the legislation of the European Union. The document complements the preliminary conclusions as of June 2022 regarding Ukraine's application to join the European Union. The level of approximation to EU legislation was assessed by the Commission on the basis of responses to a questionnaire, as well as information obtained within the framework of intensive dialogues conducted over many years within the framework of the Association Agreement.

The document contains an analysis of various areas for compliance with the standards of EU legislation. In particular, in the part related to the compliance of the competition legislation of Ukraine, it is necessary to continue the process of harmonizing the legislative framework in the field of competition and State Aid with the relevant parts of the EU acquis. The report also emphasizes that the adoption of revised draft laws on competition protection and State Aid will significantly improve the situation.

In general, competition legislation of Ukraine is aligned with EU legislation, the document says. In particular, the Law “On Protection of Economic Competition” (LPEC) broadly reflects the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and the proposal to amend the LPEC, aimed at further alignment with EU legislation, passed the first reading in the parliament in July 2021 (Draft Law 5431).

Also, a separate part of the report is devoted to the institutional structure of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, which is defined as an operationally independent body. At the same time, it is noted that some fundamental rights, such as the right of courts to directly apply competition legislation and the right of authority to independently determine the priorities of their activities, are still missing in Ukrainian legislation.

A separate part of the report is an overview of State Aid. The document states that the relevant legislation is partially harmonized with EU legislation only in some areas. Despite the fact that the application of State Aid legislation was suspended after the war, the AMCU continued to work on bringing Ukrainian legislation closer to EU standards, developed and adopted compatibility criteria for granting State Aid in various areas, and improved its case review practice.

The report emphasizes that the adoption by the Parliament of important amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On State Aid” (Draft Law 5648) developed with the assistance of the AMCU will significantly help Ukraine to bring the legislation in this area closer to the European one.

Separately, the report emphasizes that compliance with State Aid rules in Ukraine remains a problem, as ministries and other providers do not always notify the AMCU of planned measures. In general, Ukraine should take measures to increase the transparency of relations between the state and state enterprises, the document says.

It is worth mentioning that the gaps mentioned in the report are currently included in the second stage of competition law reform, proposals for which are being developed by the AMCU together with the EU Twinning and SESAR projects.