ANDREY TSYGANOV: IN THE SPACE OF THE EAEU WE PROTECT HUNDREDS MILLION CONSUMERS AND BUSINESS ENTITIES FROM THE TYRANNY OF MONOPOLIES

The Deputy Head of the FAS Russia reported it during the Round Table organized by the Federation Council Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Economic Policy

Andrey Tsyganov made a report on Antimonopoly Regulation - Stages of Development of Eurasian Integration. He noted that December 9 will mark 10 years since the creation of the Single Economic Space.

“In December 2010, a package of documents was signed that formed the Single Economic Space. The Agreement on common principles and rules of competition at that stage of integration put the foundation for antimonopoly regulation within the Single Economic Space, aimed at identifying and suppressing cross-border violations,” the representative of the FAS Russia said.

The Agreement provided for the phased transfer to the Union level of powers to monitor compliance with competition rules in cross-border markets in the areas of unfair competition, anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominance, including the examination of cases, the issuance of orders and the imposition of fines on violators.

Andrey Tsyganov added that the work on the formation and application of general competition rules within the Union has a long history.

“Since 1993, the antimonopoly authorities within the CIS have actively interacted with each other, the Interstate Council on Antimonopoly Policy was created as the main platform for cooperation in a wide format, which is still functioning, in 2006 the Headquarters for Joint Investigations of Violations of Antimonopoly Law of the CIS member States was established. It provides interaction between the antimonopoly authorities in the study of socially significant markets and in specific cases of violations of the antimonopoly legislation. This form of cooperation is continuing within the EAEU,” the Deputy Head of the authority said.

Since 2014, the modern stage of development of the EAEU has begun; on May 29 the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union was signed in Astana (Republic of Kazakhstan). The relevant provisions of this Agreement determined the architecture of the antimonopoly regulation system and the directions of competition policy. It included articles on general principles and rules of competition, regulation of the activities of subjects of natural monopolies in general and in specific areas (energy and transport), implementation of state (municipal) purchases, as well as a number of annexes that are an integral part of it, which specify and expand provisions of articles.

The FAS Russia specialists took an active part in the preparation of the text of the draft Treaty, as well as the whole system of normative legal acts required for its implementation.

“Since the entry into force of the Treaty on the EAEU, the Russian law was harmonized with the law of the Union. In 2015, a separate article appeared in the Fourth Antimonopoly Package, which determines the ratio of national antimonopoly regulation with the regulation of relations to protect competition within the EAEU,” the speaker said.

Speaking about the system for monitoring compliance with general competition rules within the EAEU, Andrey Tsyganov noted that the two-level system provides for close interaction between the Eurasian Economic Commission and the national antimonopoly authorities of the EAEU member states.

“Within the framework of the EAEU, the Treaty on the Union provides for such a format of interaction as meetings of the Member of the Board (Minister) for competition and antimonopoly regulation of the EEC and heads of the antimonopoly authorities of the EAEU member states, the so-called “5 + 1” format. This form of cooperation has proven itself well by now. The meetings are held regularly and important issues are raised at them concerning the joint activities of our bodies within the EAEU, in particular on issues of law enforcement,” Andrey Tsyganov added.

One of the important areas of interaction between the national antimonopoly authorities of the EAEU member states and the EEC is the improvement of the law of the Union. On October 1, 2019, the Presidents of the five EAEU member states signed the Protocol on Amendments to the Treaty on the EAEU, which, by analogy with the law of the Russian Federation, provides for the inclusion in the Union's law of norms allowing the use of the institutions of “preventing” and “warning” of violations of general rules of competition, which will allow, in a short time, without lengthy investigation procedures, to restore competition conditions in cross-border markets EAEU. Now this document is at the stage of ratification in the member states of the Union.

In his report, Andrey Tsyganov also noted the importance of bilateral relations with the EAEU partner countries, including the Republic of Belarus.

“In 2016, a new government body - the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) - began to function in the Republic of Belarus. Close and friendly relations have been established between MART and FAS Russia, which are supported by the Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Competition Protection. This document establishes modern forms and tools of interaction, including in specific cases of violations, and the exchange of confidential information. The Russian-Belarusian Expert Council on the development of competition in socially significant markets has been created and joint meetings of the FAS Presidium and the Board of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus are regularly held. They discuss important and prospective issues of bilateral Russian-Belarusian cooperation. This form of cooperation effectively supports our multilateral contacts in the framework of the EEU,” Andrey Tsyganov said.

“Together we are engaged in one common cause that protects two hundred million consumers, millions of business entities from the tyranny of monopolies in our countries. This work is accompanied by important political initiatives that require, among other things, decision-making at the legislative level. For example, a project to cancel roaming. In Russia, this topic took place. Intensive negotiations are underway on this issue between our country and the Republic of Belarus. Cancellation of cross-border roaming for telephone and Internet contacts is an issue that can be resolved from a legal, technical, and economic point of view at the level of the EAEU,” the Deputy Head of the FAS Russia said.

“We are acting as a united front in the international arena. Thanks to the active support of colleagues from all EAEU member states, at the regular UNCTAD conference we were able to promote our initiative to combat cross-border violations of antimonopoly law, and first of all, against transnational cartels. This initiative is supported by the UN member states. It has become one of the priorities in the work of the UN Conference on Trade and Development for the next five years,” Andrey Tsyganov said.

The event was attended by Andrey Kutepov, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Konstantin Dolgov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, Igor Morozov, Member of this Committee, Alexander Pankin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Glazyev, Member of the Board (Minister) on Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission and others.