Romanian Legal Highlights: Amendments to the Competition Law No. 21/1996 // January 2016

A new set of amendments brought to the Romanian Competition Law No. 21/1996 (“Law”) has entered into force as of January 1, 2016, aiming to ultimately harmonize the domestic legislation with EU regulations.

As stated by the Competition Council representatives, these changes were necessary in order to optimize the procedure and remedy shortcomings faced in practice by the Competition Council during its investigations.

The most significant changes regard the calculation of fines following settlement procedures and leniency applications, a new interview procedure and additional investigation prerogatives of the Competition Council, as well as limitation on the nature and scope of documents covered by the legal professional privilege.

A comprehensive review can be found here.

Moreover, the Competition Council has just issued a brief summary of its activity report for 2015, revealing the fact that 13 new investigations have been opened during the past year, referring, inter alia, to markets such as distribution of electricity and electricity meters, of movies in cinemas, of insurances and of maintenance services and spare parts for ships guarding the frontiers at the Black Sea.

During 2015, the Competition Council completed 21 investigations on infringements of the Law, out of which 67% relate to illegal vertical agreements and 34% relate to cartels and cases of abuses of a dominant position. The aggregated fines imposed in 2015 reach roughly EUR 53 million (12% higher than in 2014).

Currently, the Competition Council conducts 48 investigations, of which 70% target alleged cartels and abuses of a dominant position.