It is a pleasure to present the Authority’s yearbook, which provides an overview of our activities in 2020. It is typical of yearbooks covering the last year to emphasise the exceptional nature of the year 2020.
Annual Report 2020
The Competition Authority exercises supervision in the fields of competition, electricity, natural gas, district heating, postal services, public water supply and sewerage, railways, and ports.
The Authority participates in the work of various field-based working groups and networks, actively participating in sectoral discussions.
The competition supervisory activities are generally divided to two major parts: solving cases related to competition-restricting agreements and conducting proceedings related to the activities of undertakings in a market dominant position.
The purpose for control of concentrations is to ensure conditions of competition in product markets and market structures open to competition.
Changes in the regulation of the internal electricity market of the European Union
On 5 June 2019, Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) 2019/943 on the rules on the single European market for electricity were adopted.
On 5 June 2019, Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) 2019/943 on the rules on the single European market for electricity were adopted.
2020 brought a number of major changes to the gas market. At the beginning of the year, the Estonian-Finnish connection Balticconnector started operating. As a result, a common market area of Finland, Estonia, and Latvia (FINESTLAT) was opened, which means a unique approach in Europe where there is no tariff restriction on the movement of gas within a region of three countries, and a common input tariff for the market area has been set in place.
Different postal services have different delivery speed standards. Classically, the courier service allows for the fastest delivery time. The most common delivery times for the courier service are either delivery the next day at a certain time or even same-day delivery.
In the autumn of 2020, the Competition Authority supplemented the methodological guide ‘Principles of approval of the maximum price of heat’.
The Competition Authority is developing measures to eliminate discriminatory or otherwise unfair treatment in the rail services market. It is also one of the important tasks of the Competition Authority to deal with complaints made by railway undertakings.