EU level
As part of the European Union’s (EU) decision-making process, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) participates in the work of the EU Council, its preparatory bodies and working groups, including those for competition, consumer and information protection, or technical harmonisation. The Office cooperates with the European Commission (EC), in particular with the Directorates-General for Competition, Justice and Consumers Enterprise and Industry, Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. In addition, UOKiK cooperates with the European Parliament and other EU institutions.
On the basis of the adopted law and appropriate procedures, the European Commission and national competition and consumer protection authorities of all EU Member States cooperate with each other by informing about new cases of abuse of the law and by exchanging information, documents and experience in conducting proceedings. This is served by the European Competition Network, and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network. You can read more about these and other European structures below.
The European Competition Network (ECN) is based on the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003/ of 16 December 2002. UOKiK represents Poland in the ECN, which comprises the antitrust authorities of the Member States and the European Commission. The ECN was established as a forum for discussion and cooperation among European competition authorities in cases where Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union apply. The ECN ensures an efficient division of work and an effective and consistent application of the EU competition rules. The European Commission and the competition authorities of the EU Member States cooperate with each other through the ECN by:
- keeping each other informed of new cases and planned decisions;
- coordinating investigations;
- supporting each other in the conduct of proceedings;
- information sharing;
- conducting regular meetings and seminars.
The Group of European Competition Authorities (ECA) was founded in Amsterdam in April 2001 as a forum for discussion of the bodies for the competition protection in Europe. The purpose of the ECA is to improve cooperation between competition authorities and contribute to more effective enforcement of competition law. Cooperation between the Offices is developed by, among other things, holding regular meetings, forming working groups, and exchanging information between specialists and practitioners from these Offices.
Since 2006, under Regulation 2006/2004, there is cooperation within the EU between the Member States' authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection law. Under the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC), Member States share information with each other for the purposes of conducting proceedings, as well as they conduct an annual website review to identify breaches of consumer law.
The CPC Network also includes thematic subgroups, joint projects, workshops, training sessions, etc.
UOKiK participates in meetings of the heads of consumer protection authorities in the European Union as part of the Consumer Policy Network (CPN). These meetings are chaired by the European Commission. The CPN Network provides a platform for the exchange of experience and information on the most topical horizontal issues, recent developments and changes in consumer protection, at both national and EU level.
Early exchange of information on legislative initiatives allows the European Commission to obtain feedback from the Member States on specific topics and to learn about the latest national events in the area of consumer protection.