On Wednesday, July 25, 2023, the Hellenic Competition Commission decided to prioritize and assign to a Commissioner-Rapporteur, pursuant to Article 15 of Law 3959/2011 (the “Competition Act”), the ex officio investigation of possible anti-competitive bid-rigging practices in the market for the provision of cadastral survey services and support services for the creation of a national cadastre, in order to determine whether the conditions for applying the provisions of Article 1 of Law 3959/2011, as in force, and Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) are met.
In the context of the ex-officio investigation, the Directorate-General of Competition (DGC) carried out on-site inspections (dawn raids) at the premises of undertakings active in the above sector (November 2021 and November 2022), sent relevant requests for information (November 2021 and December 2022) and took unswornstatements (June 2023 ).
Legal framework
The HCC is responsible for enforcing Greek and EU antitrust rules in the Greek territory (Articles 1, 1A and 2 of the Competition Act and Articles 101 and 102 TFEU).
Next steps
The assignment of a case to a Rapporteur indicates that the HCC’s investigation is at an advanced stage, and it triggers the time limits of Article 15 par. 4 and 5 of Law 3959/2011 for the adoption of a decision. However, it does not prejudge the content of the Statement of Objections or the HCC’s Decision. The statutory time limit is indicative, the duration of the antitrust investigation depends, inter alia, on its complexity, the size of the case file as well as the number and degree of cooperation of the undertakings involved.
