On 6 May 2014, the European Commission published its 2013 Report on Competition Policy, which provides an account of the key policy developments, competition enforcement and advocacy initiatives pursued in 2013.

The European Commission has invited public comment on options for possible future improvements of the EU Merger Regulation in two areas: minority shareholdings and the transfer of cases between the Commission and national competition authorities. The consultation documents are available here.

Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is now hosting the Second International Competition Law Forum in Warsaw today and tomorrow.  During the opening address, both Vice President of the European Commission Joaquin Almunia and ICN Chair Eduardo Perez Motta highlighted the importance of increasing the visibility of, and focus on, competition policy. The speeches […]

  The EU’s national competition authorities and the European Commission have agreed a set of best practices on merger review. The best practices aim to foster cooperation and information sharing for mergers that do not qualify for review by the Commission but require clearance in several Member States.  

  The European Commission has adopted a package of measures aimed at increasing interaction with parties in antitrust proceedings and strengthening the mechanisms for safeguarding parties’ procedural rights. FAQs on the practices are also available.

  The U.S. antitrust agencies and the European Commission issued an updated set of “best practices” (and accompanying FAQs) that they use to coordinate their merger reviews.  The agencies also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the United States-European Union bilateral antitrust agreement.

  European Competition Day was celebrated earlier this week, May 29-30, in Budapest.  A list of speakers and presentations is available here.  European Competition Day “Plus” (May 31) also occurred this week.

  The European Commission has made public a set of draft best practices for cooperation on mergers among EU national competition authorities. The Commission is seeking the opinion of interested parties on the draft best practices with a view to publishing a final version in the autumn of 2011.

  Read about Recent developments and future priorities in EU competition policy, a recent speech by Joaquín Almunia, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Competition Policy.

  Joaquín Almunia, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Competition Policy, recently spoke on “Merger Regulation in the EU after 20 years.”