This unit was published in „International Cooperation of Competition Authorities in Europe: from Bilateral Agreements to Transgovernmental Networks” Błachucki, M., ed., (2020). International cooperation is one of key elements of successfully applying competition rules. As business becomes ever more global, there is an inevitable influence also on the assessment of competition. With increasing numbers of international transactions, powerful multinational companies and international cartels, it is all the more necessary for countries to cooperate with each other. The Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter as the ‘Slovak NCA’) does not operate in isolation; on the contrary,it needs strong support from partnering agencies in various forms, either at a regional level or a global level. A number of different possible forms of international cooperation have developed during the existence of the Slovak NCA. We have recapped our overall experience with all of these (either positive or unsuccessful) in the article. The ambition of the article is further to review the existing obstacles to closer cooperation, uncover the main reasons behind unsuccessful attempts at cooperation, and at the same time find a way past these obstacles. The new Directive 2019/1, dealing with strengthening the NCAs’ powers might be an important step towards more effective cooperation. The Slovak NCA’s approach to the amendment of its legislation is described in the article.

{"references": ["Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty, OJ L 1, 4.1.2003, p. 1\u201325.", "Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings, OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1\u201322.", "Memorandumo spolupr\u00e1ci medzi protimonopoln\u00fdm \u00faradom Slovenskej Republiky a \u00faradom pre ochranu hospod\u00e1rskej s\u00fa\u0165a\u017ee \u010ceskej Republiky (April 16, 2014). Available from: https://www. antimon.gov.sk/data/att/1378.pdf [Accessed September, 12 2020]."]}