With the upcoming review of the European Commission’s competition policy tools, the 38th Annual Competition Conference, which took place on Wednesday, 17 November, could not have come at a more timely moment. From the impacts of the foreign subsidies proposal to regulating large digital players through the Digital Markets Act, this year’s conversations covered it all. Couldn’t attend? Read more to find out what you missed.
European competition law: as relevant as ever
With the upcoming review of the European Commission’s competition policy tools, the 38th Annual Competition Conference, which took place on Wednesday, 17 November, could not have come at a more timely moment. From the impacts of the foreign subsidies proposal to regulating large digital players through the Digital Markets Act, this year’s conversations covered it all. Couldn’t attend? Read more to find out what you missed.
The conference, sponsored by Baker Botts, Brunswick and Interdigital, kicked off with a keynote message from Olivier Guersent, Director-General, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission who highlighted the importance of competition for making our economies more efficient. Mathilde Mesnard, Acting Director, Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) followed with another keynote emphasising the need for international cooperation, especially between the EU and the US, as we move into an increasingly digital economy.
Two panel discussions followed the keynotes: the first looking into the ways the proposed foreign subsidies regulation may impact Europe’s global competitiveness while the second touched on how the Digital Markets Act (DMA) can remain applicable in the future and stressed the need for legal certainty.
Kaarli Eichhorn (Jones Day), Vice-Chair, AmCham EU, closed out the conference by recommending that the future of competition law has to be fair, balanced and set a direction that fosters investment and growth across Europe.
Learn more about the AmCham EU’s position of foreign subsidies in our latest paperhere. You can also find out more on the Digital Markets Act in our consultation response.
A special thank you to our media partners MLex and PaRR for their engagements around the conference and to all of our panellist for their thoughtful discussions. Below you will find the full list of participants from both panel discussions:
Foreign subsidies: how will the new regulation impact Europe’s competitiveness?
Eddy de Smijter, Head of Unit, International Relations, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Bernardine Adkins, (Gowling WLG), Vice-Chair, Competition Policy Committee, AmCham EU
Liesje Schreinemacher, Member of the European Parliament (Renew, NL)
Moderator: Chloe MacEwen (Amazon), Chair, Competition Policy Committee, AmCham EU
The Digital Markets Act: regulating large digital players
Thomas Kramler, Head of Unit, E-commerce and the data economy, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Henri Piffaut, Vice-President, French Competition Authority
Kristina Nordlander, Partner, Co-leader of the Antitrust/Competition group, Sidley
Melissa Blaustein, Founder & CEO, Allied for Startups
Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, Senior Research Fellow in Competition Law and Co-director, Competition Law Forum
Moderator: Alberta Laschena (Kreab), Vice-Chair, Competition Policy Committee, AmCham EU
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