Implementacija novog evropskog standard u pravu konkurencije Republike Srbije – competition advocacy

Abstract

Competition advocacy ili u slobodnom prevodu – širenje opšte svesti o značaju zaštite prava konkurencije, postao je novi ali širokoprihvaćen standrad u pravu konkurencije zemalja Evropske unije. Takođe, srećemo ga u savremenom američkom pravu kao i u drugim pravima koja su pod uticajem američkog prava konkurencije. Važeći Zakon o zaštiti konkurencije Republike Srbije ne sadrži odredbu o competition advocacy. Uključivanje standarda o potrebi širenja opšte svesti o značaju zaštite prava konkurencije u nacionalne propise i njegova implementacija u praksi rezultat su potrebe da se uspostavi ravnoteža između interesa velikog kapitala, merdžera i kartela i interesa potrošača, malih i srednjih preduzetnika i javnog mnjenja uopšte. Zadatak competition advocacy je da podigne nivo spoznaje svih učesnika na tržištu o pravilima fer konkurencije, njihovim pravima i obavezama.

Competition advocacy has been defined as „activities conducted by the competition authority related to the promotion of a competitive environment for economic activities by means of non-enforcement mechanisms, mainly throug its relationships with other governmental entities and by increasing public awareness of the benefits of competition”. During the formative stages of a competition authority, competition advocacy is primarily used to inform stakeholders of the existence of the law and policy, and its associated obligations and rights. As time progresses, the role of competition advocacy changes,shifting towards generally advocating competition issues to government in the areas of privatization, sector regulation and other policies. During times of economic trouble, the role of competition advocacy must change and evolve further. The international organizations have a specific and very important role in the promotion of competition advocacy. The experience of three institutions for competition (Mexico, USA and Canada) are described in the present article as well. The conclusion is that Serbian Competition law has to adopt the new European standard – competition advocacy and Serbian Commision for competition has to apply it in its activities.