Brussels, 26/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the European Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Prague formally requesting it to amend a provision of the Czech Competition Act that limits the Czech Competition Authority's power to apply Articles 81 (prohibiting cartels and other restrictive business practices) and 82 (prohibiting abuses of dominant position) of the EC Treaty to anti-competitive behaviour in the electronic communications sector. If the Czech Republic fails to bring its legislation into compliance within two months of receipt of the reasoned opinion, the Commission could refer the case to the European Court of Justice.
The Commission considers that the Czech Competition Act limits the ability of the Czech Competition Authority to effectively apply Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty to anti-competitive behaviour in the electronic communications sector. In particular, the law in question excludes the applicability of the Competition Act to behaviour that is in breach of the regulatory framework for electronic communications. This is contrary to Community law, which provides for a parallel application of competition law and ex ante regulation. Consequently, the Commission considers that the Czech Republic has not taken all appropriate measures to meet its obligations arising from the EC Treaty (Article 10 of the EC Treaty), in combination with its obligations to designate a competition authority or authorities with the power to apply Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty in individual cases and so ensure that these articles of the Treaty are effectively complied with (Articles 5 and 35 of Council Regulation 1/2003). On 10 July 2006, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the Czech Republic, requesting information about the situation. In its reply, the Czech Republic did not contest the Commission's concerns and informed the Commission that a draft amendment to the Competition Act was being prepared. As of March 2007, however, the Competition Act had still not been amended to bring it into line with EU law. (ol)