Abuse of Dominance in South Eastern Europe: Enforcement Practices of the National Competition Authorities in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia

Abstract

The paper represents a case study of the enforcement practices in the selected South Eastern European countries (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia) concerning abuse of dominant position sanctioned under the national equivalents of Article 102 TFEU. All of the target jurisdictions have recently implemented legislative reforms aligning their substantive rules with the EU standards and enhancing the investigatory and sanctioning powers of the national competition authorities (NCAs). The paper investigates how the selected NCAs have applied their discretion in formulating the enforcement priorities in the field of unilateral anti-competitive practices. Generally, the NCAs in the SEE region remained preoccupied with the exploitative abuses in highly regulated sectors where competition is severely limited or non-existent.

Keywords: competition law, abuse of dominance, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia