On 26 March 2024, the OECD GVH Regional Center for Competition organized a meeting of the heads of the competition agencies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia in Budapest. Ms Adisa Begić, President of the Council and Ms Mirsada Pehilj, Expert advisor, attended the meeting on behalf of the Competition Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During the introductory discussions of the meeting, the need for continued cooperation between competition agencies, as well as for the continuous training of professional staff in the context of contemporary developments on the market, was highlighted.

In the continuation of the meeting, the heads of the agencies focused on two topics in their presentations:
– The relationship between the competition agencies and the courts that review the decisions of the agencies. The experiences of agencies in court proceedings, the challenges faced by agencies after court decisions were analyzed, and the best approach to this challenge was considered. The President of the Competition Council of BiH
Ms Adisa Begić spoke about the relationship between the Competition Council and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the domain of court decisions on lawsuits against the final decisions of the Competition Council.
– The second topic was about the control of concentrations, finding an appropriate balance between market development on the one hand and stopping activities that can lead to endangering competition, on the other hand. A comparison of practice in this area in the EU and the USA was made.

The continuation of the work served as an opportunity for the participants to discuss the current work of the RCC and future steps and plans in the light of contemporary challenges.

The participants of the meeting had the opportunity to exchange opinions on current global challenges in competition, to share experiences in their work and discuss the ways to improve the work of the agencies.