A bill envisaging a single body in charge of competition and consumer protection has been submitted by Yordan Tsonev, MP from liberal party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS).

The commission will combine the functions of the existing Commission on Protection of Competition and Commission for Consumer Protection.

Under the bill, the new Competition and Consumer Protection Commission will be managed by a panel of seven members, including a Chair, three Deputy Chairs and three other members.

Currently, the competition protection watchdog is managed by seven people and the consumer protection authority is managed by a team of three.

The Chair of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission will be elected by Parliament for a 5-year term in office, according to reports of Standard daily.

The Chair of the new watchdog will receive a salary amounting to up to 90% of the salary of the Parliament Speaker.

The candidates for the post will be required to have no less than 10 years of experience as legal experts.

The nominees for Deputy Chairs of the new watchdog will be submitted by the Chair to be approved by Parliament.

The three Deputy Chairs will be in charge of consumer protection, competition protection and public procurement and concessions.