Greece: Competition Assessment Project

Launch of the report

The third competition assessment of Greece was officially launched in Athens on 7 November 2016 in the presence of George Stathakis, former Greek Minister of Economy, current Minister of Environment and Energy, and Rintaro Tamaki, OECD Deputy Secretary-General.

>> View the report | Greek

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>> Read the news release English | Greek

>> Read the blog

Increased competition can improve a country’s economic performance, open business opportunities and reduce the cost of goods and services to the benefit of consumers. However, numerous laws and regulations can restrict competition in the marketplace.

In Greece, regulatory constraints are a reason for weak competition. According to the OECD Product Market Regulation index, the Greek markets are among the most heavily regulated within OECD members.

Identifying competition-distorting rules and provisions in Greece's legislation is therefore key to help the country improve its productivity and growth.

About the project

The OECD has been working closely with Greece since 2012 to assess competition laws and regulations hindering competition.

In 2016, the OECD carried out a third thorough and independent assessment to identify rules and regulations that may hinder the efficient functioning of markets in the following sectors: construction, media, wholesale trade, e-commerce and manufacturing sub-sectors, such as chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

>> View previous reports

The process

Making use of the methodology in the Competition Assessment Toolkit, a project team composed of competition experts, economists and lawyers from OECD and the Hellenic Competition Commission conducted an assessment of the regulations potentially restricting competition in the designated sectors and will propose specific recommendations for change.

A High-level Committee of Secretaries General from the relevant ministries was set up to consult and support the work of the project team.

Building capacity

The OECD held a series of workshops to build the capacity of officials from the government to conduct competition assessment, in line with international best practices, through the application of the Competition Assessment Toolkit.

The substantive knowledge gained can then be applied to similar exercises in other sectors or to new laws and regulations.

Competition ‌Assessment Toolkit

Helping governments eliminate barriers to competition

The OECD Competition Assessment Toolkit was designed to help governments eliminate barriers to competition through a method that identifies unnecessary restraints on market activities and develops alternative, less restrictive measures that still achieve government policy objectives.

The toolkit is composed of 3 volumes: Principles, Guidance and Operational Manual. The first two volumes are available in more than 17 languages.

View the text of the toolkit

Project Timeline

Launched in February 2016, the assessment took place in five stages:

Initial mapping of all relevant legislation in each sector.

Scan of legislation to identify potential obstacles to competition.

Analysis of the selected regulations to assess the harm to competition.

Formulation of recommendations for the redesign or even abolishment of regulations shown to be harmful to competition. This will be qualitative and, where possible, quantitative to demonstrate the potential economic benefits from lifting any identified barriers to competition.

Publication of a final report with recommendations for redesigning regulations in November 2016.

Contact

For press or other enquiries, please contact [email protected].

Competition