Mimoza Kodhelaj
Director, Albanian Competition Authority, Tirana, Albania
Scholarship: Summer Course on European Antitrust Law (224B10)
Trier, 1 – 5 July 2024
“In order to fully comply with the relevant requirements from the EU perspective and gain experience from the well-known names that teach at ERA Academy I applied to this course to make a crosscheck between the technical aspects as part of the negotiation team for chapter 8: competition policy; and the insightful know-how from European member states experts.”
11/07/2024
- Q & A with Mimoza Kodhelaj
Your current occupation and country of work?
I am currently the Director of Competition Surveillance in Productive Markets at the Albanian Competition Authority, where we conduct antitrust investigations in different sectors of the economy. I am also active in the EU Integration inclusion of the accession process of Albania in the EU as I am appointed Vice Chair of Intergovernmental Working Group on European Integration (IWGEI) of acquis Chapter 8: Competition Policy and member of Economic Criteria IWGEI.
How do you use European law in your work?
As the Director of Competition Surveillance in Productive Markets, Albanian Competition Authority, my professional duties include investigating competition enforcement in different sectors of the economy with the aim of restoring and protection competition and final consumers. During the assessment of antitrust cases, we base our analysis on European best practices and judgement decisions from the Court of Justice of the European Union, as the Albanian Law” On competition protection” is fully aligned with art. 101 and 102 of TFEU.
Besides as part of the “negotiation team” for accession process of Albania in the EU for Chapter 8: Competition Policy, during the legal approximation with the EU acquis we have to take into consideration new European Guidelines, Regulations and Commission Notices to be adapted to our national legislation and sublegal framework.
How did you benefit from the scholarship and the knowledge gained?
Through this scholarship I gained new insights how to identify and assess antitrust cases in line with EU best practices especially in the new challenge for competition authorities: digital markets. Furthermore, being among lawyers, judges and competition experts will serve as a great network to discuss future exchange and cooperation. I highly recommend the course to new participants.
