GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anna Manda and Maria Kallidopoulou, Karatzas & Partners
7. Third-Party Rights, Confidentiality and Cross-Border Co-Operation 7.1 Third-Party Rights Under the Greek Competition Act, third parties, including inter alia customers, and competitors can play an important role in the assessment of a notified concentration. First, when the HCC conducts its market testing in order to assess the competitive conditions in the relevant markets, it sends requests for infor- mation to third parties, the opinion of which may be critical for the assessment of the transaction. Moreover, a summary of the notified concen - tration, including the undertakings concerned, the form of control acquired, and the relevant markets, is published in a national daily finan - cial newspaper, as well as on the HCC website, within five working days of the submission of the notification to the HCC. Within 15 calendar days from the publication of the announcement of the proposed concentration in the newspaper, any interested third party may submit comments or provide information regarding the notified con - centration to the HCC. Furthermore, any third party establishing a legiti - mate interest may intervene during the HCC proceedings by submitting written pleadings at least 30 calendar days prior to the HCC hearing. In addition, third parties may be invited by the HCC to the hearing before it during the Phase II investigation, provided that the HCC consid - ers that their participation will be essential for the examination of the case and contribute to ascertaining the truth.
tis SA/Promitheftiki SA , the HCC accepted the modification-replacement of the agreed rem - edies (as imposed in HCC Decision 665/2018) due to exceptional financial market conditions emerging from the COVID-19 outbreak. 5.6 Issuance of Decisions HCC decisions that either clear (without rem - edies), clear with remedies or prohibit a con - centration, are notified to the parties within the prescribed time limits (ie, 30 calendar days for Phase I and 90 or 105 calendar days for Phase II). A non-confidential version of the HCC deci - sion is also published on the HCC website and in the Greek Government Gazette. The HCC has only imposed remedies in a for - eign-to-foreign concentration on one occasion. This occurred in Case 50/1997 ( SKW Trostberg AG/Sandoz AG ), where the HCC imposed a behavioural remedy on SKW Trostberg AG, requiring the company to continue supplying the Greek market with raw materials through its agency arrangements for a period of three years following the publication of its decision. 5.7 Prohibitions and Remedies for Foreign-to-Foreign Transactions 6. Ancillary Restraints and Related Transactions 6.1 Clearance Decisions and Separate Notifications An HCC clearance decision covers any ancillary restraints that are directly related to, and nec - essary for, the implementation of the concen - tration, such as long-term service agreements, non-compete clauses, etc. The HCC examines such restrictions on the basis of the EC’s Notice on ancillary restrictions.
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