Meeting of the Permanent Commission

The Permanent Commission of the Competition Council held its meeting, via video conference, on Monday, June 22, 2020 at 10:00 am, under the chairmanship of Mr. Driss Guerraoui, President of the Council.

After a thorough examination of the items on the meeting agenda, the Permanent Commission decided to authorize the economic concentration operation related to the acquisition by the Company “CEPSA ComercialPetroleo S.A.U” of 40% of the shares and voting rights of the Company “Sorexi S.A” and the Company “Bitufile S.A” held by “Majdaline S.A”.

Furthermore, the Permanent Commission reviewed the progress of the implementation guide adopted by the Competition Council bodies, intended for companies and parties concerned with competition, and the simplified guide intended for a wider audience. In this regard, the Council President noted the need to hold a meeting in the presence of the vice-president in charge of the file, the Secretary General, the General Rapporteur, and the President’s Advisor, in order to launch the gradual publication of the finalized guides, particularly the guide on economic concentrations, in both languages. The entire project will be reviewed at an upcoming meeting of the Permanent Commission.

In this context, the President recommended that the sections continue their work to complete all the chapters of the guide as approved by the Plenary Formation of the Council.

The Permanent Commission also examined the proposed project presented by Mrs. Jihane Benyoussef, Vice-President of the Council, regarding the indexed presentation of the competition laws in our country. This indexed presentation aims to facilitate the reading of the texts article by article, and in connection with the corresponding articles of the implementing decrees, based on simplified concepts and in alphabetical order.

The President emphasized that this work, which constitutes added value for the Council thanks to the collective intelligence of its members, will be of undeniable interest to all those interested in competition issues, whether they are administrations, professionals, operators, researchers, or students. This work will be enriched by those supervised by the Secretary General, the General Rapporteur, and the Deputy General Rapporteur of the Council, and in which the Council’s translator who has developed a glossary project in Arabic, French, and English dedicated to competition law is involved.

Furthermore, the President of the Council informed the members of the Permanent Commission of the following points:

• • • • • The holding, on Tuesday, July 21, 2020, of the Council Session, which will be devoted to the adoption of the decision concerning the contentious referral regarding possible agreements in the market for liquid fuels;
        • The President’s participation in the meeting of the national business climate commission, chaired by the Head of Government, on Tuesday, June 23, 2020;
        • The resumption of work at the Council headquarters as of Monday, June 22, in accordance with the modalities set out and specified in the health monitoring guide sent to the members, officials, executives, and employees of the Council on Thursday, June 18, 2020 by the General Secretariat of the Council;
        • The holding, via video conference, of a courtesy visit with the newly elected board of the Council of Chartered Accountants, at the request of its President and in the presence of the Council’s Secretary General. A copy of the presentation made during this visit will be sent to the Council members;
        • The publication, upon finalization, of the Arabic and French versions of the Competition Council newsletter;
        • Taking the necessary steps to i) rule on the files of the Uber company and competition in the building paint market, ii) initiate self-referrals in sectors where the competent services of the Council have identified anti-competitive practices.

The Permanent Commission had previously approved the minutes of its meeting held on June 12, 2020.