By Sarantis Michalopoulos
Aug 5, 2019
The Greek opposition has accused New Democracy’s conservative government of attempting to control the country’s independent competition commission.
The newly elected Greek government is due to pass a law on Monday (5 August) providing for the dismissal of members and staff of the competition commission if they have recently served in government offices.
This practically means that the current competition boss, Vassiliki Thanou, will have to be replaced.
Thanou, a former supreme court chief justice, was nominated by the previous leftist government and before that, she was a non-paid adviser of former premier Alexis Tsipras.
Contacted by EURACTIV.com, a European Commission spokesperson said the EU executive does not comment on draft laws or alleged plans and referred to the relevant EU directive on competition authorities and particularly the dismissal of independent authorities’ members.
“They may be dismissed only if they no longer fulfil the conditions required for the performance of their duties or if they have been found guilty of serious misconduct under national law. The conditions required for the performance of their duties, and what constitutes serious misconduct, shall be laid down in advance in national law,” the directive reads.
Read more at https://www.euractiv.com/section/competition/news/greek-government-accused-of-meddling-in-competition-authority/
