Competition Law: Trends and Institutional Studies

2024-07-24

The Lithuanian Competition Council (Council) has decided to pay special attention in 2024 to the energy, healthcare (including pharmaceuticals), retail, and digital market sectors. After the first half of 2024, we invite you to review the investigations conducted by the Council and the prevailing trends at the EU level:

  • Energy Sector: due to the increased attention from the Council towards the energy sector, entities operating within it will need to allocate more resources to the implementation of competition law requirements and the assessment of related risks. The actions and agreements of business partners operating in the energy sector (e.g., component suppliers or goods distributors) may also be investigated.
  • Healthcare (including pharmaceuticals) sector: the objective at the EU level is to ensure the continuous availability of medicines and medical supplies to consumers, which requires an independent and diversified supply chain. Therefore, businesses in this sector should ensure that their actions and practices comply with competition law requirements, as investigations are likely to intensify.
  • Retail sector: the retail sector also remains a priority for several years due to its significant impact to consumers. As stated by the European Commission (EC), EC will not hesitate to investigate cases where price increases may be driven by anti-competitive practices, particularly those where prices are raised under the pretext of inflation. The Council, taking into account priorities set by the EC, will continue to conduct investigations in this sector.
  • Digital markets: it is predicted that the attention of supervisory institutions, including the Council, to the digital markets will increase. It is a favorable time for businesses to review their operational practices and agreements and assess the competition law risks they may face.

Review in Lithuanian by Eitvydė Milkevičiūtė, Senior Associate.

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