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The Competition Authority announces that for several weeks it has placed the fuel market under monitoring and, since 25.02.2022, with Decision no. 866 of the Competition Commission “On the opening of the preliminary investigation procedure in the market of wholesale trade of diesel fuel and gasoline”, has launched the investigation, as we not only share the same concern with you regarding the welfare of the consumer but also how due to the legal obligations of the functioning of the Authority.
Therefore, following this investigation, the Competition Authority will take any measure provided by law no. 9121, dated 28.7.2003 “On the protection of competition”, to crack down on any phenomenon that distorts competition, if such will be verified after the investigative procedure.
We take this opportunity to reiterate that the purpose of the Albanian legislator when he created the Competition Authority, with law no. 9121, dated 28.7.2003 “On the protection of competition”, as amended, was and remains the protection of free and effective competition in the market, defining the rules of conduct of enterprises, as well as the institutions responsible for the protection of competition and their responsibilities ”.
Although “consumer protection” is never mentioned as a phrase in the Law on Protection of Competition, we believe that by detecting and prohibiting agreements that directly or indirectly set buying or selling prices, they limit or controlling production, markets, or by preventing the abuse of the dominant market position of enterprises, which set unfair prices, the Competition Authority indirectly contributes to consumer protection.
We are aware and understand that in these periods of successive crises, regardless of objective reasons, mainly citizens, but also politicians, claim from the authorities to intervene and reduce prices, but in relation to the Competition Authority these claims are reasonable only if certain enterprises speculate on prices by distorting competition.
However, in the modern world, there are very few competition authorities, which are charged by law, and as a result, also have instruments to influence abusive prices, when price increases have nothing to do with competition. Their name is also “Competition and Consumer Protection Authority”.
On the other hand, most of the competition authorities in the world, including the Albanian Competition Authority, are not legally designed to fight abusive prices per se, when these prices are not a consequence of: 1) exploiting a dominant position in the market of a or more enterprises (eg because they have exclusive licenses); or 2) prohibited agreements. Thus, the abuse of a dominant position must be proven, and not just the abuse, so that the Competition Authority has the legal opportunity to intervene; it must be proven that there is a prohibited agreement or coordinated behavior between companies in a given market to raise (or even lower) prices abusively (unfairly), so that the Competition Authority has the legal opportunity to intervene. In any case, to bring competition back (not prices as an end in itself) to effective parameters.
Such cases, if identified, will be hit with all the severity that law no. 9121, dated 28.7.2003 “On the protection of competition”, provides. At the same time, we consider that some of your requests should be addressed to other institutions that are related to consumer protection and which have legal mechanisms to react directly to the phenomenon of abuse of prices in the markets.
The absolute majority of competition authorities have neither the legal space nor the human resources, relevant expertise and daily and comprehensive information to be also the authority to regulate prices. What remains to be done by the competition authorities, unable to regulate unfair prices, is transparency with the public, to which the Albanian Competition Authority is fully committed. We will at least make public all our findings at the end of the investigation we have launched, and most of all, we will punish through fines any abuser of law no. 9121, dated 28.7.2003 “On the protection of competition”, amended, if distortion of competition is proven. We bring to your attention that the Competition Authority investigations require their time, as they are complicated processes of obtaining, cross-referencing and analyzing numerous and specific data, so that the decision is based on law and evidence. Further, the decision in question will be subject to litigation, which will require its time. The more law-based and evidence-based a Competition Authority decision is, the more difficult it will be for abusers to appeal and overturn Authority decisions in court. The extension in time is also one of the reasons why the legislation in Albania and in most countries of the world has not charged the competition authorities with the competence to regulate prices.
In these cases, when it is impossible to intervene in price regulation through competition protection legislation, modern states, also called “social welfare states”, have adopted by legislation other instruments that ensure the temporary stabilization of certain prices, especially those that are considered as “basket” and that are too sensitive for citizens, or for subsidizing some public services for the needy.
Therefore, some of your requests may need to be addressed, and likely to be resolved, to other public institutions, as in respect of the instruments provided by law, in terms of consumer protection, the decisions of the Competition Authority, which must be based on law and evidence (to stand in the way of appeals in court), give their effects extended in time.
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