Hungary warned over antitrust laws

Exemption protecting agricultural sector from cartel fines breaches EU law, Commission says.

The European Commission has accused the Hungarian government of tampering with the independence of the national antitrust authority and has threatened to take legal action against the country.

The dispute arose after the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán intervened in April 2013 in an antitrust investigation into the national market for watermelons.

Hungary is a major producer of watermelons and Hungary’s government sought to ensure that domestic producers were not undercut by cheaper imports. At the behest of Orbán’s Fidesz party, the Hungarian parliament adopted a law preventing the Hungarian competition authority from sanctioning cartels involving agricultural products unless it received permission from the ministry of agriculture.

But Joaquin Almunia, the European commissioner for competition, argues that this breaches EU competition law and has given Hungary two months to bring its legislation into line.

This warning by the Commission is the latest in a string of high-profile challenges to laws introduced by Orbán, who won an absolute majority in parliamentary elections earlier this month.

In the face of pressure from the Commission and the European Court of Justice, Orbán has amended laws that were perceived as encroaching on the independence of the governor of Hungary’s central bank and of Hungary’s judiciary.

Last week, the ECJ found that Hungary had breached EU laws when it replaced its data protection supervisor, who is meant to be independent of government interference. 

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