GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anastasia Dritsa, Elisabeth Eleftheriades, Vicky Kriketou, Irene Kyriakides, Ioanna Kyriazi, Victoria Mertikopoulou, Claire Pavlou and Panagiotis Pothos, Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm
• approve the transaction unconditionally; • clear it subject to remedies; or • prohibit the concentration.
affecting competition in Greece, irrespective of where the conduct occurred or whether the undertakings involved are established in Greece. Accordingly, agreements concluded or implemented outside Greece may still fall within the jurisdiction of the HCC where they produce actual or potential effects on the Greek market. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position Abuse of Dominance Article 2 of the Greek Competition Act mirrors Article 102 TFEU and prohibits abusive conduct by undertak - ings holding a dominant position in the Greek market or a substantial part thereof. Unlike the EU system, Greek law expressly allows set - tlement procedures not only in cartel cases but also in abuse of dominance investigations. As with cartel enforcement, the Greek abuse of domi - nance regime is based on the effects doctrine. Under Article 46 of the Greek Competition Act, abusive con - duct may fall within Greek jurisdiction where it takes place in Greece or produces actual or potential effects on the Greek market, regardless of the location of the undertaking concerned. This allows the HCC to inves - tigate foreign undertakings whose conduct materially affects competition in Greece, even absent a physical presence in the jurisdiction. Abuse of Economic Dependency Greek law separately prohibits the abusive exploita - tion of economic dependency (under Article 18a of the Unfair Competition Act (Law 146/1914)), which may exist where a trading partner is substantially reliant on a commercial relationship and lacks an equivalent alternative. Article 18a is enforced exclusively by the Greek civil courts, which may order the cessation of the abusive conduct and/or its non-repetition, award damages (actual loss and/or loss of profits) and impose fines of EUR5,000 to EUR50,000 on responsible natural persons. Furthermore, any agreement giving rise to the abusive conduct is void under Article 174 of the Greek Civil Code.
If the HCC fails to issue a decision within the applica - ble statutory deadline, the concentration is deemed approved. Gun-Jumping and Sanctions The Greek merger control regime prohibits implemen - tation prior to clearance. Failure to notify a notifiable transaction, early imple - mentation (“gun-jumping”), or breach of remedies may result in significant administrative fines. The HCC also has powers to impose behavioural or structural meas - ures where necessary. 6.3 Cartels Legal Framework Article 1 of the Greek Competition Act mirrors Arti - cle 101 TFEU and prohibits agreements, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted prac - tices that have as their object or effect the restriction of competition. Typical infringements include price- fixing, market sharing, output restrictions, bid-rigging and exchanges of commercially sensitive information. The Greek Competition Act also recognises in its Arti - cle 1 (3) the equivalent of the Article 101 (3) TFEU exemption, allowing restrictive agreements where efficiency gains outweigh anti-competitive effects and consumers receive a fair share of the resulting benefits. EU Block Exemption Regulations also apply mutatis mutandis to agreements, decisions or con - certed practices which are not likely to affect trade
between EU member states. Additional National Rules
Greek law also prohibits invitations to collude and certain unilateral disclosures of future pricing inten - tions by large undertakings (Article 1A of the Greek
Competition Act). Territorial Scope
Greek competition law follows the effects doctrine. Under Article 46 of the Greek Competition Act, the regime applies to anti-competitive conduct capable of
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