By John Taladay and Paul Lugard*   Introduction Governments and competition agencies considering new laws to regulate competition need not act blindly. Without much experience in competition regulation, they can and should draw upon well-recognized international principles for the design and implementation of ex ante regulation. This article identifies ten principles for ex ante competition […]

By Patricia Bascunana-Ambros & Renato Ferrandi1   I. What Are “Emerging Competition Issues” Emerging competition issues (or risks to competition) can be described as scenarios in which certain new market characteristics create a threat to competition. These can include changes in the conduct of companies operating in concerned markets or in consumer behavior; or new […]

By Paulo Burnier da Silveira and Thaiane Abreu1   Introduction The energy sector has been under the careful watch of policymakers and competition authorities. It is an industry with particular characteristics that justify a special degree of attention, including the importance of guaranteeing a reliable energy supply, as well as environmental considerations, non-storability (in most […]

By Wouter Meester and Daniel Westrik1   The withdrawal of a cartel case brought against Citigroup and Deutsche Bank in last February came as a surprise to many, marking the termination of a long-running high-profile Australian Competition & Consumer Commission cartel case that would have been the country’s largest-ever white-collar criminal trial.2 The Citi-Deutsche case, […]

By Roman Inderst2 & Stefan Thomas3   Austria and the Netherlands are two examples where since 2021 the goal of (ecological) sustainability has been enshrined in competition law or respective guidelines. On the topic of sustainability the European Commission and various competition agencies have formed taskforces, commissioned expert reports (e.g., “Technical Report”) and engaged in […]

By Despina Pachnou1   Competition law enforcement is part of a country’s overall law enforcement and is shaped by a country’s legal system, history, and culture. Some competition authorities follow common law, others civil law; in some systems, the competition authority takes enforcement decisions at the first instance, whereas in others the first-instance decision-maker is […]

By Matteo Giangaspero1   Concerns over how the competitive dynamics of online markets are affecting the sustainability of public interest journalism and the quality of information have arisen across many jurisdictions. Calls for intervention seem to take the view that news quality is a value that should be preserved in democratic societies; and that the […]

By Nicole Robins1   The OECD’s recommendation on competitive neutrality aims to ensure a level playing field between enterprises. To achieve this, a number of insights could be drawn from EU State Aid rules, which are designed to avoid government actions that unduly distort competition within the EU in order to ensure a level playing […]