The Economic Committee discussed a governmental proposal of amendments to the Act on Protection of Competition (zákon o ochraně hospodářské soutěže) at its session on 16 May. The amendment introduces the so-called leniency program; the program guarantees innocence or lower financial penalty for actors who have reported a cartel agreement among competitors. The amendment precisely stipulates under which condition and to which actors the leniency program could be applied; i.e. the actor should not have forced other competitors to settle the agreement. The amendment also stipulates criteria and their priorities that regulate which cases of competition should be primarily controlled by the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS). The aim of the priorities is to relieve the burden of auditing small contracts so that the Office can focus on more important public contracts.
The amendment is heading to the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies that will discuss the Bill in the second reading. However, the Chamber of Deputies has not set the term of further follow up with the Bill yet.

For further information, click here. Source: explanatory report of the Bill.