2024-02-15 18:39:00
Yousra Amrani February 15, 2024 at 7:39 p.m.
The president of Competition Council, Ahmed Rahhou, revealed yesterday that the Council has processed this year no less than 200 economic concentration operations in 2023, despite the increase in the threshold for notification of economic concentrations. Speaking at the Council’s third annual meeting with the media, held yesterday in Rabat, the senior official indicated that “the Council remains committed to ensuring that the amicable solution prevails in matters related to competition, instead of resorting to to other procedures”, stressing that “the Council takes into account the importance of protecting the rights of citizens while ensuring not to harm businesses”.
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The senior official, who indicated that the Council has expanded the sectors it follows in terms of respect for competition, revealed that the most important files that have been dealt with are those linked to the hydrocarbons and telecommunications sectors. Two sectors for which the Council reached conciliatory decisions.
Returning also to the hydrocarbons issue, Mr. Rahhou indicated that the prices of these energy products remained free, noting that the Council’s margin of intervention lies at the level of verifying the existence of a potential agreement. The President of the Council announced that the chapter relating to hydrocarbons was closed, following the sanction imposed on these companies. However, an agreement was signed between the Council and the companies for the latter to provide the Council with details of prices for a period of three months.
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“We actually observed that the oil companies were applying the increase quickly, as for the reduction in prices, it was happening at a slow pace, and this is what pushed us to oblige them to regularly provide us with data on the evolution of prices,” he said. -he clarified, noting that the Council plans to closely monitor the fuels sector.
Questioned on the reasons for the rapprochement of the prices displayed by the different hydrocarbon distribution companies, the president of the Competition Council denied the current existence of an agreement, preferring to speak of an adaptation to market prices.
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Thus, each company adjusts its price according to its evolution. Mr. Rahhou also indicated that the Competition Council had already requested the government to allow the entry into the market of new players in the hydrocarbon sector in order to strengthen competition.
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