Competition regulator is still without a director, two years on

Malta’s competition regulator has remained without a director for more than 18 months since the role was vacated.

The MCCAA’s director general for competition is responsible for initiating investigations into possible cases of market dominance (or ‘market concentrations’) and approving decisions made by the unit.

Godwin Mangion, the previous holder of the role, retired in October 2023 after serving for nearly a decade.

However, the authority is yet to find Mangion’s replacement, with a spokesperson telling Times of Malta that it is “currently engaged in the recruitment process” for a new director.

“MCCAA is committed to ensuring that the individual ultimately appointed to this role possesses the necessary competence, expertise and leadership qualities to effectively oversee operations,” the spokesperson said, adding that the authority was looking to “conclude the recruitment process and appoint a suitable candidate as soon as possible”.

Sources told Times of Malta that the ongoing delay in filling the role is down to recruitment difficulties. An initial public call for a replacement was sent back to the drawing board after objections over the evaluation committee were raised.

A later call for applications also led nowhere, with sources saying that none of the applicants possessed the necessary skills.

Documentation on the authority’s website shows that it had issued an initial call for a new director in 2023, asking interested candidates to submit their applications by early September, a month before Mangion’s retirement.

The vacancy stated that interested candidates were required to have “professional qualifications, recognised competence, experience and specialisation in the domain of competition law and, or industrial organisation economics and, preferably, with knowledge of consumer matters”.

Last year, a Times of Malta report cited concerns expressed by industry sources over the legal validity of decisions taken by the regulator in the absence of a director. According to law, the decisions need to be signed by the director general of the competition office.

Shortly after the report, Prime Minister Robert Abela told parliament that other directors within the authority had been granted the power to sign off on market concentration decisions in their respective fields, in the absence of a director general.

The authority’s website shows that the office has continued to publish decisions over the past 18 months, listing 15 decisions between October 2023, the date of Mangion’s retirement, and today.

Several of the decisions were signed by Melchior Vella, while others bore the name of Denise Camilleri, both of them directors within the authority.

However, no director currently has the power to sign off on investigations into other issues, including collusive practices and abuse of dominant positions. The issue had been flagged by MEP Peter Agius in a letter to EU Commissioner Teresa Ribeira last month.