On 18 April, the Competition Council of Latvia (the CC) undertook to promote regional cooperation on competition policy and enforcement by signing a Cooperation Memorandum with ten countries. The main objective of the Memorandum is to provide a platform for cooperation through the exchange of experience and good practice in fair competition enforcement, as well as to expand regional partnerships by strengthening cooperation links not only with the competition authorities of the EU Member States, but also with the competition authorities of Ukraine and Moldova.
The Memorandum was signed by the competition authorities of the European Union countries – Latvia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia – as well as the candidate countries of the European Union, namely the Competition Council of the Republic of Moldova and the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.
The first meeting of the Memorandum’s Member States will take place in Warsaw, Poland, from 18 to 19 April. The event is planned to discuss cooperation and the 2023 work plan, exchange views and experiences in roundtable discussions on prioritisation strategies for competition authorities, discuss the impact of the external environment on the work of the authorities, and strengthen human resources and capacity at national level to make the work of competition authorities more efficient.
Juris Gaiķis, Chairman of the CC: ‘Strengthening cooperation and exchanging experiences in an international environment is one of the priorities of the authority. So far, we have been working in close contact with the countries of the European Competition Network, and cooperation between the Baltic states is particularly notable via the organising of joint experience-sharing events and maintaining regular contacts at expert level. It is important that cooperation is not only formal but adds value for all parties, so we are pleased with the signing of the new Cooperation Memorandum with a clearly defined work plan for the coming year, as well as with the opportunity to support the strengthening of the competition authorities of Ukraine and Moldova by sharing our experience in applying EU competition law through the Cooperation Memorandum.’
In the coming years, regional cooperation between these countries is expected to be strengthened through exchanges of views on competition policy issues and non-confidential information on investigations and best practices in competition law enforcement. In the framework of the Memorandum, annual meetings, roundtable discussions of competition authority chairpersons, training programmes and exchanges of experiences for competition authority staff will be organised. It is also expected that cooperation between other international professional organisations, such as the International Competition Network (ICN), the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission (DG COMP), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), will be promoted.