The relationship between market regulation and EU competition law can be described as complementary. They use different mechanisms and tools, yet they pursue similar objectives. In certain sectors, such as telecommunications or energy, the EU legislation requires cooperation between competition and regulatory agencies. This, however, occurs almost exclusively at the national level. Recent experiences in the context of both antitrust and the merger control (for example the Euribor and Libor investigations, and mergers in the telecom sector) have shown the need to increase interactions. How should the relationship between the two supervisory bodies evolve to ensure legal certainty and the proper functioning of the market? The Policy Forum aims to address substantive and procedural developments as well as contentious aspects that surface in the context of this interrelationship.

Programme

12:00 - 12:30  Lunch
12:30 - 12:35  Welcome
12:35 - 12:55  Mr. E.Martinez-Rivero (Head of the Antitrust Telecoms Unit, DG Competition)
12:55 - 13:15  Prof.Dr. J.Steenbergen (President, Belgian Competition Authority)
13:15 - 13:35  Mr. S.McInnes (Partner, Bird&Bird)
13:35 - 13:55  Comments by Dr. A.Komninos (Partner, White&Case)
13:55 - 14:15  Q&A Session

Registration and Venue

The policy forum starts at 12:00 and will end at approximately 14:15. A sandwich lunch will be provided between 12:00h and 12:30. Participation is free of charge and open to all but due to space limitations, registration is mandatory. To register for the policy forum, please fill in the online registration form.