GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anna Manda and Maria Kallidopoulou, Karatzas & Partners
Finally, third parties are also entitled to appeal against HCC decisions before the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens within a period of 60 calendar days from the publication of the HCC decision, provided that they establish a legiti - mate interest. 7.2 Contacting Third Parties Third parties are a source of information and evidence for the HCC in relation to the assess - ment of a proposed concentration. In particular, the HCC may, when considered necessary, con - tact third parties as part of its review process by sending written questionnaires to third parties, such as competitors, customers and consumer organisations. These questionnaires should be replied to within at least five calendar days and there are fines in case of non-compliance and for providing inaccurate or misleading infor - mation (see also 3.6 Penalties/Consequences of Incomplete Notification and 3.7 Penalties/ Consequences of Inaccurate or Misleading Information ). In the same manner, the HCC also typically sends written questionnaires to third parties regarding the sufficiency of the proposed commitments and their ability to eliminate the competition concerns raised by the concentra - tion. 7.3 Confidentiality HCC decisions are published both on the HCC website and the Greek Government Gazette. The HCC publishes the non-confidential ver - sions of its decisions, meaning that the parties’ commercially sensitive information, including business secrets, are protected from disclosure. 7.4 Co-Operation With Other Jurisdictions As a member of the European Competition Net - work, the HCC co-operates closely both with the EC and the national competition authori -
ties in other EU member states regarding the enforcement of EU competition law. The HCC also participates in the International Competition Network. Over the past year, the HCC further enhanced its co-operation with other national competition authorities inside or outside the EU, by signing several memoranda of co-operation with the national competition authorities of North Macedonia, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Ser - bia, Morocco, South Africa, Israel, Egypt and Armenia. In order to share information with other jurisdic - tions, the HCC should seek relevant permission. 8. Appeals and Judicial Review 8.1 Access to Appeal and Judicial Review HCC decisions may be appealed before the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens. Nei - ther the timeframe for filing the appeal nor its filing may suspend the enforcement of the HCC decision. The judgment of the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens may in turn be appealed before the Council of State (ie, the Supreme Administra - tive Court of Greece). 8.2 Typical Timeline for Appeals The timeline for filing an appeal against an HCC decision is 60 calendar days from its publication or, in the absence thereof, of its notification to the parties. To the best of the authors’ knowl - edge, there are not any examples of successful appeals against HCC decisions to date.
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