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Law
Competition Policy

Bilateral relations with Russian Federation

The 1997 EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PAC) contains provisions on competition and subsidies. In particular, it provides for:

  • A commitment to have in place a Competition Law which addresses anticompetitive practices.
  • The prohibition of export aid favouring certain undertakings or the production of products other than primary products.
  • For other aids than export aid, which distort or threaten to distort competition insofar as they affect trade between the Union and Russia, the Parties declare their readiness to establish strict disciplines, including the outright prohibition of certain aids.
  • The obligation to provide information on aid schemes or individual cases on State aid, upon request of a Party.
  • As regards public undertakings, or undertakings with exclusive rights, the Parties commit not to enact nor to maintain any measure distorting trade between the Union and Russia to an extent contrary to their respective interests. The application of this provision must not lead to obstruct the performance, in law or in fact, of the particular tasks assigned to the undertakings.
  • Consultations between the Parties on anticompetitive practices and on the enforcement of their competition rules.
  • The possibility to have technical assistance for the development and implementation of competition rules.
  • The Parties also recognize the importance of approximating competition legislation.

Bilateral cooperation between the Commission and the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) was formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Brussels in 2011 between Vice President Almunia and Igor Artemyev, Head of the Russian FAS. The agreement provides for:

  • Reciprocal discussion of developments in competition policy, legislation and enforcement;
  • Cooperation on cases under investigation by either authority, where they may affect the important interests of the other party;
  • Exchange of non-confidential information.