In July 2021, officials of the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) carried out consecutive unannounced inspections, acting ex officio, at the premises of undertakings active in catering services provision. 

These inspections were carried out as a follow-up to previous inspections held in 2018 and 2019, to complete the case file of an ex-officio investigation into anti-competitive practices, pursuant to the provisions of Greek Competition Law 3959/2011. 

It is noted that unannounced inspections are carried out in the premises of undertakings for the collection of evidence on anti-competitive practices in the relevant markets under investigation and it does not mean that the inspected undertakings have engaged in anti-competitive behaviour, nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself. 

The HCC continues to step in, whenever its involvement is necessary, as the authority responsible for identifying potential violations of the provisions of Articles 1 and 2 of Greek Law 3959/2011 and Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. Facing the potential emergence of distortive phenomena, the HCC, the guardian of the proper functioning of free and competitive markets, takes on the pledge to prioritize, within the remit of its jurisdiction, every relevant case for which it is informed either through a complaint, an application for leniency, or other sources of providing secured digital information (whistleblowing) and it will impose severe administrative sanctions on undertakings which have adopted anti-competitive practices.