GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Victoria Mertikopoulou, Ifigeneia Argyri and Maria Paziotopoulou, Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm
Indicatively, with a view to accelerating the digital transformation and “green transition” of the Greek economy, the HCC conducted unan - nounced on-site inspections of a large number of companies in the smart water meter systems sector in June 2024. In July 2024, the authority launched a similar ex officio investigation in the urban waste management sector on the island of Crete. Both these investigations targeted poten - tial horizontal anti-competitive practices in the form of bid rigging in public tenders in breach of Article 1 of Law 3959/2011 and Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Furthermore, continuing its efforts against price increases (especially regarding basic consumer goods), the HCC carried out on-site inspec - tions in December 2024 into the supply, trading, wholesale and retail sale of coffee, chocolate and infant nutrition markets ‒ seeking to iden - tify potential anti-competitive horizontal and/or vertical conduct and possible abuse of domi - nance. Similarly, in November 2024, the HCC conducted unannounced inspections in the pet food (dog and cat food) sector to investigate potential anti-competitive vertical agreements ‒ especially given the significant price increases in said sector during the past two years, accord - ing to the annual Consumer Price Index for pet products in Greece. Regarding the pharmaceuticals sector, follow - ing the HCC’s inspections into the markets for the production and supply of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of ophthalmological diseases (and further to the statement of objec - tions), the HCC convened in December 2024 to conclude whether the international pharma com - panies concerned abused their dominant posi - tion in the relevant market for the treatment of macular diseases in Greece by implementing a
strategy to exclude competing ophthalmic medi - cines in the said market and deploying naked restrictions and denigration practices over a nine-year period. The investigation trails the EC’s and other national competition authorities’ continued enforcement focus on exclusionary practices in the form of denigration/disparage - ment practices in the sector. Notable cases The HCC pursues both horizontal and verti - cal cases, prioritising key sectors of the Greek economy. The authority has also continued to extensively use the settlement procedure, a tool broadly embraced by the market and the legal community. A summary of recent HCC deci - sions, illustrating areas of focus and the HCC’s continued efforts in combating bid rigging and other horizontal anti-competitive practices (mainly price fixing and market allocation) but also vertical practices (mainly RPMs), follows. i) Settlement Decision 869/2024 – provision of cadastral surveying (bid rigging) The HCC unanimously imposed fines totalling EUR1,081,339.64 on 18 companies operating in the market for the provision of cadastral sur - vey services and support services for the crea - tion of a national cadaster for anti-competitive bid-rigging practice infringing Article 1 of Law 3959/2011 and Article 101 of the TFEU. Follow - ing an ex officio investigation, 18 companies out of 26 raided were found to have engaged in a horizontal bid-rigging agreement that allocated cadastral surveys among themselves (horizontal market-sharing partnership). The investigation established that the under - takings in question concerted their practices in the context of meetings and personal con - tacts, in order to agree in advance on an alloca -
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