The Conference will be opened by the traditional opening speech of the Chairman Petr Mlsna. The first expert panel will focus on the Regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market and its impact on entities in the Czech Republic. This panel will be introduced by Eddy De Smijter, Head of the relevant Unit at the European Commission, DG Competition. Mr Smijter is responsible for investigating foreign subsidies and approving the relevant notifications. Since October 2023, companies have been obliged to notify the European Commission of foreign financial contributions (subsidies) in the case of mergers where at least one of the companies has a total turnover within the EU of at least EUR 500 million and a tender with a value exceeding EUR 250 million. Additional insights on this topic will be provided by Petr Solský, Vice-Chair of the Office, Vojtěch Horsák from the Office, and attorneys Jan Kupčík and Ivo Janda.

The next part of the Conference will focus on State aid in the field of land transport, in particular on the draft of Transport Block Exemption Regulation (TBER) and the provision of transport services by public authorities within the framework of public service obligations. Doris Gradenegger from DG Competition, Gabriela Kinclová from the Office and Ondřej Michalčík from the Ministry of Transport will present on this issue.

The recent decision-making practice of the European Commission and the Court of Justice of the EU will be presented by Michael Kincl from the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic and attorneys Martin Látal and Jiří Mňuk.

Thursday's Conference programme will be devoted entirely to De Minimis State Aid and its registration in the Register of Small-scale Aid. The Offices representatives Libuše Bílá, Jana Staroňová and Vojtěch Horsák, together with Soňa Drobová from the Slovak Antimonopoly Office and Adam Zvonař, representing Aid providers, will discuss this topic.

Full program and registration here

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