Sus M. Constitutional Foundations of State Protection of Competition in Ukraine in the Context of the European Union Experience.

The dissertation is a comprehensive study of the constitutional foundations of state protection of competition in Ukraine and the problems of their implementation at the level of legislative regulation and law enforcement practice in the context of the experience of the European Union (the “EU”). Section 1 is devoted to the study of the constitutional regulation of state protection of competition in Ukraine, the role and place of state protection of competition in the constitutional regulation of the economy, and a comparison of the constitutional regulation of protection of competition in Ukraine and the EU Member States. The meaning of special provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine (the “Constitution” or “Basic Law”) pertaining to state protection of competition in entrepreneurial activities, namely provisions of Article 42(3), paragraph 12 of Article 85(1), and paragraph 8 of Article 92(1), is described. Detailed characteristics and outline of the substantive content of each of the mentioned provisions of the Constitution, the concepts used therein, through the analysis and description of the relevant practice of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (the “CCU”), provisions of competition legislation existing before and after the adoption of the Constitution in its development up to the current state, is provided. Following analysis of the Constitution's provisions relating to protection of competition, the CCU’s practice, and competition legislation, it is substantiated that the object of constitutional legal protection is the process of competition among undertakings in obtaining and distributing profits with the aim of achieving economic and social results through greater efficiency in economic operations due to legitimate achievements. It is concluded that the object of constitutional legal protection is the aforementioned process of competition in entrepreneurial activities on the territory of Ukraine, and that the state protection of competition on the territory of Ukraine has an extraterritorial character. It is stated that ensuring protection of competition in entrepreneurial activities is the obligation of the state, corresponding to the right of an individual to demand such protection. It is argued that an individual's right to legitimate competition in entrepreneurial activities is an integral element of the constitutional right to entrepreneurial activity; state protection of competition in entrepreneurial activities is a means to facilitate the proper exercise of the right to entrepreneurial activity, while at the same time this protection is a direct means of setting boundaries of exercising the above right and regulating entrepreneurial activity . The economic and social aspects of the right to competition are outlined.