Latvia's Parliament has approved amendments to the Competition Law, granting the Competition Council (CC) a new role of providing methodological support to public buyers in identifying, evaluating, and calculating losses caused by competition law violations.

Under the new function, the CC will offer guidance to public buyers in assessing and calculating losses, as well as assist them in preparing claims for court submission.

The amendments also establish conditions for implementing the new function separately from the administrative process of investigating competition law violations to avoid conflicts of interest. This means that a new CC unit will analyze information submitted by public buyers, and its opinions, calculations, and consultations will be of a recommendatory nature.

Additionally, the Competition Council's chairman will oversee the new unit in a supervisory capacity, without getting involved in providing opinions or influencing their content.

To encourage more active involvement of public buyers in recovering losses incurred due to competition law violations in organized procurement, the Ministry of Economics collaborated with the CC to propose amendments to the Competition Law, outlining the new function of providing methodological support to public buyers in assessing losses. This includes regulating the cooperation procedures, responsibilities, and duties of public buyers and the CC in the loss recovery process.