In a significant step toward strengthening market regulation, the Parliament of Montenegro has officially adopted a new Law on Protection of Competition on 25 March 2026. The legislation aims to enhance fair market practices and align the country's regulatory framework more closely with European Union standards.
Some of the most important features of the new Competition Law include:
- The misdemeanour courts remain competent for imposing of the fines in case of competition infringements - Montenegro has opted to retain the jurisdiction of misdemeanour courts for the imposition of fines in cases of competition infringements, rather than granting this authority directly to the competition authority. This means that misdemeanour courts will remain competent for sanctioning violations,
- Self-assessment replaces the individual exemptions regime in relation to the restrictive agreements. While the non-EU countries in the Balkans still mostly have individual exemptions before the competent authorities, Montenegro aligned its rules with those of the EU,
- The merger filing thresholds remain unchanged, meaning that Montenegro remains a one-party trigger jurisdiction, as the filing obligation can be triggered based on the local turnover of only one of the parties,
- Abandoning of the merger filing deadline – there is no longer a statutory deadline for submitting a merger notification. Previously, parties were required to submit a notification within 15 calendar days from the signing of a binding agreement, the announcement of a public bid, or the acquisition of control, whichever occurred first,
- Shorter review period in case of the summary merger filing proceedings – the new law significantly reduces the review period for summary merger control (Phase I) to 30 days from the issuance of the confirmation of a complete filing, compared to 105 working days from the date of a complete filing under the previous regime,
- Clear differentiation between the summary (Phase I) and in-depth proceedings (Phase II) – the new law clearly differentiates between the summary merger control proceedings (Phase I) and the in- depth proceedings (Phase II), whereby the merger approval in the Phase II must be issued within four months as of submission of the merger filing. Under the previous regime, no formal distinction existed; instead, longer statutory deadlines were prescribed for more complex merger filings,
- The new law removes the minimum fine threshold – providing only for a maximum penalty of up to 10% of the infringer's global turnover, whereas the previous competition law prescribed a minimum fine of 1% of the infringer's revenues,
- Introduction of longer statute of limitations – the statute of limitations for commencement of the misdemeanour proceedings under the new law is extended to three years (instead of two years under the previous law), while the statute of limitations for finalization of the proceedings is six years (instead of four years in line with the previous law).
It is expected that the new Competition Law will come into force in April 2026, i.e. within eight days as publishing in the Official Gazette of Montenegro.
For any questions or further information regarding the new law and its practical impact, please do not hesitate to contact us at office@bnb.law.