The Independent Media Commission on October 10, 2023, participated in the conference "Competition Day 2023: The benefits of fair competition in Kosovo", organized by the Competition Authority of the Republic of Kosovo (AKRK) with the support of the Project financed by the Union European: "EU support for the Competition Authority of the Republic of Kosovo, and the State Aid Commission".

At the invitation of AKRK, IMC was represented at this event by Commission Member Mr. Besnik Berisha who was part of the second panel in the session: "Key challenges in the review of competition legislation in Kosovo". Mr. Berisha underlined the need for proper regulation of the media market as a prerequisite to ensure media pluralism, which is one of the main objectives of the IMC. In order to achieve this, a harmonized approach is required during the amendment of three laws that are of interest to the media market:

• Law of the IMC;

• Law on Electronic Communications, and

• Competition Law.

Their amendment should be such that there is no vacuum left in the regulation nor ambiguity in the interpretation of the agencies' competences and the provisions of the articles.

During the proceedings of the conference, various local and international experts discussed in more detail various aspects of competition, current challenges and the vision for a fair competition, the nature and functioning of competition regulation in Kosovo and how this field is important for Kosovo's EU integration efforts.

The conference was the first of its kind in Kosovo and covered topics such as the importance of competition policies, legislative reforms, as well as a specific focus on anti-competitive practices in the form of cartels and bid manipulation.