Book Report: Competition Law and Enlargement Policy – Lesson from the Western Balkans?

The newly published Competition Law and Policy in the Western Balkans (edited by Jasminka Pecotić Kaufman, Gentjan Skara, and Alexandr Svetlicinii) is a pioneering contribution to a field that, until now, was not addressed in such comprehensive manner. The Western Balkans are jurisdictions in transition, in-between the legacies of socialist economies and the requirements of the EU accession process. Against this backdrop, the book provides one of the first systematic analyses through country reports of how EU competition law has been transplanted into these legal systems, what institutional structures support it, and how enforcement has unfolded in practice considering the countries’ specific legal traditions.

What makes the volume stand out is its broader aim: to provide policy guidance for further alignment with EU law and to set a research agenda for a region that remains understudied in contemporary competition scholarship.

Framing the Inquiry: Competition Law in the Shadow of EU Accession

The introduction anchors the analysis in the EU’s Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP). The Western Balkans, unlike States that joined between 2004-2013, have experienced a slower enlargement trajectory. From the outset, competition policy has been embedded as one of the cornerstones of the Stabilisation and Association Agreements (SAAs), serving as an external driver for modernising existing competition law frameworks. As noted, this has led in most jurisdictions to the adoption of second-generation competition acts, following a largely unenforced first generation, which was put in place to safeguard the transition to market economies in the 1990s.

This created a central paradox. On paper, the countries of the Western Balkans now have legislation largely aligned with EU competition law, and in some cases, transposition even pre-empted the adoption of EU reforms. However, transplanting texts has not automatically generated effective enforcement, as national competition authorities (NCAs) often face institutional challenges, which lead to formal legislative convergence oftentimes taking precedence over building robust enforcement cultures. This makes the last chapter’s empirical turn — drawing on enforcement and institutional data from 2012 to 2022 — even more valuable, as it is helpful when evaluating whether formal alignment has translated into substantive enforcement.

National Portraits: Shared Challenges, Distinct Paths

The six country chapters, written by national experts, form the heart of the volume. While descriptive in nature, they provide insights into institutional design, legislative history, and enforcement records.

Albania followed a “step-by-step” approach to competition law: initial core provisions in 1995 led to a comprehensive 2003 framework, closely aligned with EU standards and coinciding with the signing of the SAA. The reform established an independent NCA with powers mirroring EU practice. Some idiosyncrasies remain — such as the availability of individual exemptions — but Albania is generally seen as a case of steady public enforcement that often takes EU jurisprudence into account.

Bosnia and Herzegovina exemplify the challenge of aligning competition law with EU standards in a politically fragmented, multi-ethnic state. The establishment of an independent Competition Council is a notable achievement, but enforcement is constrained by procedural peculiarities — such as narrow judicial review and strict decision-making deadlines —, weaker institutional powers and by weak political commitment to further approximation. The authors also stress the need for stronger external support from the EU.

Kosovo perhaps had the most challenging task of aligning its competition laws to the EU acquis. Although a Competition Commission was formally established, its effectiveness has been hampered by protracted appointments and acute resource shortages. A limited competition culture — within both the authority and the judiciary, and the society at-large — has also hindered consistent development, coupled with the lack of experience of the judiciary with competition matters. The recent creation of a specialist commercial court in 2022 may, however, help strengthen judicial expertise and improve oversight quality in the view of the authors.

Montenegro demonstrates gradual improvement since the accession negotiations started in 2020 with the EU. The Agency for Protection of Competition has gained professionalism, though enforcement volumes remain modest. The chapter notes incremental progress in merger control and cartel investigations but cautions that the independence of the Agency, as well as its understaffing and under-budgeting still represents a problem.

North Macedonia offers an instructive example of relatively advanced harmonisation. Following the signing of the SAA in 2001, enforcement and approximation of the EU acquis accelerated, culminating in the Competition Act of 2010 which now broadly mirrors EU standards. Nonetheless, gaps remain as private enforcement has yet to gain real traction, and existing instruments such as the leniency programme remain underutilised. As it was noted, greater reliance on the latter could possibly also alleviate the workload of the Competition Commission, which continues to operate with limited staff and budget.

Serbia, with the region’s largest economy, emerges as the most active enforcer in empirical terms. Yet the trajectory since the adoption of the 2009 Competition Act suggests signs of backsliding, both legislatively and in practice. Concerns have been raised about the degree of alignment with the EU acquis, particularly given the concentration of powers in the hands of the NCA’s President, the persistently low level of fines that fail to achieve a dissuasive effect, and the appointment of members who often lack specialised training in EU law or competition law. Transparency also remains problematic, as judicial review decisions are not consistently published, further undermining confidence in the system.

Comparative Assessment: Convergence and Divergence

The book’s concluding comparative chapter weaves the national reports into a structured and coherent evaluation. The below themes stand out.

Institutional Design and Independence. All six jurisdictions have established competition authorities, though with diverging investigative powers (most illustratively can be seen with ,,dawn raid” powers). Independence, however, remains uneven: while some countries provide legislative safeguards, in others budgetary dependence and politicised or protracted appointment procedures leave authorities vulnerable to interference and constrain their effectiveness.

Enforcement Record. Public enforcement varies significantly across the region. Serbia and Albania have been relatively more active, while Kosovo and Bosnia tend to take a more cautious approach, focusing largely on procedural matters. Even where enforcement occurs, low fines are common, limiting the deterrent effect of infringement findings. At the same time, although most jurisdictions provide a legal basis for private enforcement, these frameworks are often underdeveloped, and practical implementation remains almost entirely absent.

The “Enforcement Gap” with EU Law. At the textual level, convergence with the EU competition acquis is largely complete in most jurisdictions. However, a significant gap persists between legislation and practice. This gap cannot be attributed to a single domestic weakness. Rather, it reflects a generally low level of competition culture and a shortage of specialised training for both NCA officials and judges, which can result in inconsistent decisions, with judicial review often focusing on procedural aspects rather than engaging with complex economic matters. The authors also repeatedly stress the need for more consistent external support from the EU to help streamline the alignment process and foster a more robust enforcement.

Uncertain basis to apply EU competition law. Although NCAs and courts sometimes rely on Court of Justice precedents, the basis for doing so is often unclear. Under the SAAs, the acquis is binding only in cases affecting trade between the candidate country and EU Member States, leaving uncertainty in purely domestic cases as to when and how EU precedent should be invoked and applied.

The EU Dimension: Competition Law as a Marker of Integration

Beyond legal doctrine, the book situates competition law within the broader story of EU enlargement. Since the Thessaloniki Summit of 2003, the EU has reiterated its “unequivocal support” for the Western Balkan’s European perspective. Yet accession has been slow, with political disputes, governance challenges, and enlargement fatigue in the EU itself.

Against this backdrop, competition law plays a double role. In one hand, competition law in the Western Balkans operates as a tool for guiding the shift from state-controlled markets — characterised by monopolies and high concentration — toward functioning, competitive markets. In the other hand, it serves as a marker of progress in the accession process: the SAAs explicitly require both the creation of independent competition authorities and the alignment of substantive rules, making compliance in this area a proxy for readiness to take on EU obligations. This dual function helps explain why legislative transplants have outpaced enforcement practice. Governments have strong incentives to adopt EU-inspired legislation quickly, even if institutions are ill-prepared to enforce them. As the volume shows, the real test lies not in passing laws but in embedding a competition culture across administrations, courts, and businesses.

What, then, does Competition Law and Policy in the Western Balkans contribute?

By tracing the influence of EU competition law on neighbouring legal orders, the volume underscores the limits of legal transplantation while adding to the literature on the role of competition law in the EU’s enlargement agenda. It shows that convergence is not only a matter of statutory drafting, but of institutional capacity, competition culture, and political willingness. This book reminds us that some of the most interesting dynamics occur at the periphery, where EU law is adopted but not fully internalised.

For anyone interested in how EU norms travel, how competition institutions take root, and how law operates in the shadow of accession politics, this book is an essential read.