SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Tomaž Ilešič, Aleksandra Mitić, Ajas Midžan and Lea Zahrastnik, Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners
ties to redact confidential and commercially sensitive information, ensuring that any access granted to a third party is restricted to non-confidential material only. 7.2 Contacting Third Parties The CPA frequently contacts market participants dur - ing its review, usually by written information requests or telephone calls, asking competitors, customers and suppliers about market conditions and the likely effects of the deal. It also market-tests proposed rem - edies regularly. 7.3 Confidentiality Basic information about each notification, such as the date, the parties, the sector and the case reference, is published (shortly after receiving a complete filing). The parties cannot withhold information from the CPA, but they can request for specific data to be treated as confidential (clearly marked and justified) and provide a non-confidential version of the file. Final decisions are published in a non-confidential form. 7.4 Co-Operation With Other Jurisdictions The CPA actively co-operates with other regulators, primarily within the European Competition Network and globally through networks such as the Interna - tional Competition Network and OECD. Within the EU, the CPA does not need to acquire the parties’ permission to share general transactional data and co-ordinate proceedings, as this is directly ena - bled by EU network regulations. However, to share highly sensitive business secrets with jurisdictions outside the EU, the CPA must obtain an explicit writ - ten confidentiality waiver from the merging parties. 8. Appeals and Judicial Review 8.1 Access to Appeal and Judicial Review The CPA’s decision may be challenged before the Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia. The court reviews whether the CPA applied the law cor - rectly, followed proper procedure and based its deci - sion on sufficient evidence. While the court does not typically reassess the economic analysis in full, it may
annul the decision and remit the case to the CPA for reconsideration. Although the court formally has the power to decide the case itself, in practice it rarely does so and more commonly opts to remit the mat - ter, particularly given the complexity of merger control cases. 8.2 Typical Timeline for Appeals The deadline to lodge an action for judicial review is 30 days from receipt of the CPA’s decision. In our experience, judicial review proceedings typically last at least a year and a half. However, there are instances where such challenges have been successful in prac - tice, most notably the Agrokor case discussed in more detail in 2.2 Failure to Notify . 8.3 Ability of Third Parties to Appeal Clearance Decisions Third parties do not have the right to appeal a clear - ance decision. Appeals are limited to the notifying parties (and, in theory, third parties with a recognised legal interest (intervener), but in practice no third party has been recognised as having such an interest in a Slovenian merger case). 9. Foreign Direct Investment/Subsidies Review 9.1 Legislation and Filing Requirements Slovenia has two separate regimes that can require filings beyond necessary under merger control regime. FDI Screening The FDI notification requirements in Slovenia are regu - lated by the Investment Promotion Act. The activities in critical areas are further explained in the Critical Infrastructure Act (Slovene: Zakon o kritični infrastruk - turi ). A direct foreign investment must be notified to the ministry responsible for the economy (currently, the Ministry of the Economy, Labour and Sport) if the fol - lowing conditions are cumulatively met: • it is a transaction by a foreign investor (an investor from a third country, other than the EU);
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