Adaptation of the Ukrainian competition legislation in accordance with the association agreement EU-Ukraine

Abstract

Background. The Association agreement concluded between Ukraine and the EU provides a wide range of actions from the Ukrainian side regarding the implementation of existing EU legislation in the legal field of Ukraine and adaptation of the Ukrainian competition legislation with the relevant EU legislation. Competition law of Ukraine is one of the most close to the European institutions of the economic legislation. The conclusion of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU hasn’t completed this process, but only gave it a new impulse.
Analysis of recent research and publications. The works of such scientists as O. V. Bezukh, S. S. Valitov, N. M. Korchak, K. V. Smirnova etc. were dedicated to the questions of development of competition legislation of Ukraine and its adaptation to the requirements of the EU. More than three years have passed since the conclusion of the Association Agreement; it means it is time to sum up the implementation process of the Agreement provisions to the Ukrainian competition legislation.
The aim of the article is to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of the provisions of Chapter X (Competition) of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, the definition of problems and trends of further development of the Ukrainian competition legislation.
Materials and methods. There was used the optimal set of general scientific and special methods of scientific knowledge: abstraction, deduction, analysis, synthesis, logical-legal, comparative-legal, etc. from the point of view of the objectives of the study.
The results of the research. According to the Agreement Ukraine and the EU harmonize national competition legislation; refrain from providing state aid to enterprises producing goods or providing services, which distort or threaten to distort competition; exchange information on their own aid schemes; do not apply any measures that may distort trade between countries; within the framework of the Committee on Cooperation consult on competition issues; provide assistance in the development of competition rules. In addition, in accordance with Article 254–255 of the Agreement, Ukraine undertook to bring existing competition law into conformity with the legislation of the European Communities. The harmonization of Ukraine's competition legislation with EU requirements and standards is the leading direction of its development.
The Association agreement acknowledges and defines ways of eliminating legal gaps in the implementation of competition law rules in the national legislation of Ukraine. The text of the Agreement contains specific references to the EU regulations that should be included in the legislation of Ukraine. However, the norms to be implemented in the current competition legislation of Ukraine, are contained not only in section X Competition, but also in other parts of the Agreement, in particular, providing conditions for the development of competition in energy and gas sector, improvement of legal regulation in the sphere of public procurement (compliance with the current legislation of Ukraine requirements of Directive 2004/18/EC), protection of intellectual property rights, in particular in the field of legal protection of geographical indications etc.
Conclusion. In the process of implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU regarding the improvement of the competition legislation and its implementation, Ukraine has already achieved a lot of aims. It was improved the legal and organizational basis of activity of bodies of the Antimonopoly Committee, which became more open for business, implemented a number of EU acts by competition issues, increased value thresholds in the monitoring of concentrations, accumulated changes in the legislation. However, the process of adaptation and harmonization of existing competition legislation has not been completed. Every day there are new challenges that require regulatory decisions. It applies to both the improvement of already existing institutions of competition law and the introduction of new.