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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Competition Law in the GCC Countries: The Tale of a Blurry Enforcement
Author(s)
Maria Casoria
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DOI:10.17265/1537-1506/2017.03.003
Affiliation(s)
Royal University for Women, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain
ABSTRACT
The study aims at making
additions to the literature on the competition laws in the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) countries, and emphasizes that the application of the rules in
force represents the weak point of systems in which the competition policy
awareness is much needed but still anchored at a rudimentary stage. This is
especially evident when considering that, although such laws have been built up following the
European Union model as regards to the forbidden practices, and the US system—with its combination
of monetary fines and criminal approach—for the sanctions, the establishment of a legal
environment “friendly competition” is far from effective enforcement. After providing an overview of
the competition laws passed by the six GCC members, the paper highlights that, notwithstanding the
wide arsenal of legal tools to curb possible anticompetitive practices made available under the national regimes,
in all countries role and powers of the competition authorities are somewhat
underrated. Due to such generalized lack of implementation, the article
underlines the need for effective enforcement standards accompanied by a joint harmonized
action against illegal competition to be undertaken at regional level in order
to facilitate the flow of commerce, and strengthen the economy in the GCC
marketplace.
KEYWORDS
Arab Gulf States, competition authorities, competition law, economic integration, enforcement, Gulf Cooperation Council
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