The Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) kindly invites you to the inaugural Policy Forum by Alexander Italianer, Director-General of DG Competition on 21 March 2014, 12:30-14:30 on a series titled “National Competition Law & Authorities”.The decentralisation of competition law enforcement in Europe has transformed national competition law and national competition authorities, while at the same time giving the European Commission an institutionally complex position, making it essentially the head of a network of authorities. In this sense, decentralisation brought with itself many elements of centralisation. The Court of Justice then built on that process to further centralise competition enforcement in a series of rulings, which strengthen the role of national competition authorities but at the same time, tie them more to the EU standard. However, this is a two-way process and the national level has always directly or indirectly influenced the EU level. In short, we are currently living the shaping of a “European Competition Common Law”.The National Competition Law & Authorities Policy Forums will explore the shaping of the European Competition Common Law through a series of lunch time sessions organized around presentations by heads of national competition law authorities, as well as by other local players.