EU accession has introduced EU competition and related law to eight countries in the region, obliging these countries to comply with and enforce EU rules on matters such as merger control, licensing and distribution, monopolies, pricing agreements, public procurement and state aid. Accession has also extended the applicability of EU trade agreements to these countries.

Competition and trade law also play an important role in EU aspirant countries, Bulgaria and Romania. For example, we have been advising the Romanian government on the effective implementation of competition law in that country, including drafting legislation and the establishment of appropriate institutions.

The implications of EU accession can give rise to a range of complex legal issues for our clients in all areas of competition law. Since well before the official accession date, we have been assisting clients, for example in reviewing their commercial agreements in central and eastern Europe, updating their competition compliance programmes and advising on various state aid related matters concerning this region. The applicability of state aid rules to the various public subsidies schemes predating accession is raising particularly challenging issues.

For more information please refer to the section on our global antitrust, competition and trade practice.

Recent deals

Our recent work includes advising:

  • a telecoms operator on pricing matters in Slovakia;
  • ATEL in merger control proceedings regarding the acquisition of electricity companies and cogeneration units in several accession states;
  • Audi (Hungary) in securing tax breaks under state aid rules following Hungary’s accession to the EU;
  • the Bulgarian government on approximation of legislation, financed by project Phare (Poland, Hungary Assistance for the Reconstruction of the Economy);
  • carrying out, for a global media company, a pre-EU accession review to establish the compatibility of its CEE country arrangements with EU competition law;
  • Dana Corporation on establishing a presence in Slovakia;
  • Gaz de France and Ruhrgas on the competition aspects of the acquisition of a controlling stake in the leading Slovak gas transport company SPP;
  • Glaverbel, the Belgian flat glass producer, on the competition law aspects of a production joint venture with a Bulgarian company;
  • Harley-Davidson on a distribution agreement in Slovenia;
  • Hewlett-Packard on its merger with Compaq in Slovakia;
  • Holcim on an antitrust audit extending to all fields of activities of Holcim Hungária and reviewing all potential antitrust law related risks as well as representing Holcim Hungária in two competition law-related disputes before the Hungarian courts;
  • Mars Group on distribution agreements in various EU accession countries;
  • Matsushita Electric Europe (Panasonic) on post-accession state aid matters in Poland;
  • Messer Group, the gas utility, on merger control issues in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Slovakia on the acquisition of the Messer Group’s global gas business by Goldman Sachs and Allianz Capital Partners;
  • Ringier, the Swiss publishing house, in merger control proceedings regarding its acquisition of a newspaper and magazine group in Slovakia;
  • Stocznia Gdynia, the Polish shipbuilder, on its state aid matter before the European Commission;
  • several international construction groups in cartel proceedings in Hungary;
  • Volkswagen on a range of state aid matters concerning EU accession countries; and
  • Warburg Pincus on its acquisition of shares in SL Pharma, a holding company owning a majority of shares in the publicly listed Slovak pharmaceuticals company, Slovakofarma.

Related practices

Global antitrust, competition and trade practice

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