NEW COMPETITION LAW RULES

The Hungarian Parliament has recently adopted an amendment to the Hungarian Competition Act and to the Hungarian Consumer Protection Act. The amendment implements the rules of Directive 2014/104/EU issued by the European Parliament and the Council, which includes the rules of the actions for damages arising from infringements of the competition law provisions.

Natural persons, business associations and even authorities are entitled to get compensation for damages, independently of the fact whether such infringement has been declared by the competition authority or not. The injuring party is obliged to compensate any and all damages incurred as a result of the infringement of the competition law provisions. The compensation shall not be mitigated by the court even in case of exceptional circumstances, and the court shall not ignore to apply the joint and several liability.

The amendment has introduced a new merger notification system replacing the former merger application procedure. The notification shall be checked by the Hungarian Competition Authority after its submission without delay. If the authority fails to take measures within 8 days, the merger can be completed. Due to the shorter procedural deadlines implemented by the amendment, the procedural fees have also been decreased.