Abuse of the dominant position and The effect of exemption to undertakings and state-owned entities. In both Saudi and European competition law

Abstract

This thesis examines the consequences and repercussions of the exemption contained within Saudi law regarding state-owned companies and entities that leads to abuse of their dominant position, using a comparison between Saudi Competition Law (2019) Article 6 and European Union Article 102. The importance of this issue arises as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country that follows Islamic law and is on its way to great economic development under the 2030 Vision plan, and so must be addressed. This vision aspires to privatize and liberalize government sectors which provide public services. At the same time, in the latest update to Saudi Competition Law in (2019) with Article 3-2, public institutions and state-owned companies are excluded from competition law if the institution or company is only authorized by the government to provide goods or services in a specific field, such as water, electricity, etc. This differs from European Law Article 106.