GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anna Manda and Maria Kallidopoulou, Karatzas & Partners
Karatzas & Partners The Orbit – 5th Floor 115 Kifissias Avenue Athens 115 24 Greece
Tel: +30 210 371 3600 Fax: +30 210 323 4363
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1. Cartels Law and Regulation 1.1 Legal Bases The statutory basis for challenging cartel behav - iour in Greece is enshrined in Law 3959/2011 as modified by Law 4886/2022 (the “Greek Competition Act” (GCA)). Article 1 of the GCA essentially mirrors Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and it is interpreted accordingly by the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC). Article 1A of the GCA ( “Invitation to collude and announce- ments relating to communicating future pricing intentions for products and services between competitors” ) mainly addresses price signalling and other anti-competitive unilateral conduct by undertakings (see also 1.4 “Cartel Conduct” ). Finally, Law 4529/2018 (the “Damages Law” ) transposes into the Greek legal system the EU Antitrust Damages Directive 2014/104/EU. 1.2 Regulatory/Enforcement Agencies and Penalties Public Enforcement Agencies HCC The HCC is the main competent authority for the enforcement of the competition rules included in the GCA. It is an independent authority with
administrative and economic autonomy, super - vised by the Minister of Development. With regard to anti-competitive agreements and con - certed practices, the main responsibilities and powers of the HCC include: • investigating anti-competitive agreements and concerted practices; • issuing decisions; • imposing administrative fines and other sanc - tions where applicable; • ordering interim measures; • ordering commitments; • conducting dawn raids; • co-operating with EC and other national com - petition authorities; and • conducting market studies and sector-specif - ic inquiries. EETT As regards electronic telecommunications and postal services, the competent authority to enforce the competition rules in these sectors is the Hellenic Telecommunications & Post Com - mission ( Εθνική Επιτροπή Τηλεπικοινωνιών & Ταχυδρομείων , or EETT). In this guide, any ref - erences to the HCC and its investigatory and enforcement powers also apply to the EETT, which enjoys the same powers as the HCC when
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