European Competition Day conference is organised by the Competition Council of Latvia within the framework of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Opening speech of Ms Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition - Europe’s competition authorities: A close-knit tea
Economic activities of public bodies can pose a threat to fair and equal competition, however, municipalities in Europe do business, and often it is an inevitable solution. What regulation is needed in situation when market participants have substantially different backgrounds? What is the role of a competition authority? Is level playing field possible or even needed? What does it mean to consumers and to national economy?
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Prof. Anders Paalzow Stockholm School of Economics in Riga Anders Paalzow holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Stockholm School of Economics. He has served as Rector of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga since 1999. Through his chairmanship of the Baltic International Centre for Economics Policy Studies and the TeliaSonera Institute he has been involved in a number of policy-oriented research projects including the Latvia Competitiveness Report. |
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Prof. Eleanor M. Fox New York University School of Law Eleanor M.Fox is a scholar and teacher of competition law, European Union law, and issues of global governance and economic development. She is the Walter J. Derenberg Professor of Trade Regulation at New York University School of Law. Before joining the NYU faculty, Fox was a partner at the New York law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. She served as a member of the International Competition Policy Advisory Committee to the Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice (1997-2000) (President Clinton) and as a Commissioner on President Carter’s National Commission for the Review of Antitrust Laws and Procedures (1978-79). She has advised numerous younger antitrust jurisdictions including South Africa, Egypt, Tanzania, The Gambia, Indonesia, Russia, Poland and Hungary, and the Common Market of Southern and Eastern Africa (COMESA). Her books include THE DESIGN OF COMPETITION LAW INSTITUTIONS: GLOBAL NORMS, LOCAL CHOICES, with Michael Trebilcock (Oxford 2013), U.S. ANTITRUST LAW IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT, cases and materials (3rd ed. West/Reuters 2012), a co-authored case book on European Union law, and co-authored books on developing countries and competition. Her recent articles include, with Deborah Healey, When the State Harms Competition – The Role for Competition Law, 79 Antitrust Law Journal 769 (2014), and Monopolization and Abuse of Dominance: Why Europe is Different, 59 Antitrust Bulletin 129 (2014). She is co-producer with Bert Foer of a video for the International Competition Network on developing countries and competition. |
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Prof. Dr. Frederic Jenny OECD Competition Committee Frederic JENNY holds a Ph.D in Economics from Harvard University (1975), a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Paris (1977) and an MBA degree from ESSEC Business School (1966) He is professor of Economics at ESSEC Business School in Paris. He is Chairman of the OECD Competition Committee (since 1994), and Co-Director of the European Center for Law and Economics of ESSEC (since 2010). He was previously Non Executive Director of the Office of Fair Trading in the United Kingdom (2007-2014 ), Judge on the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation, Economic Commercial and Financial Chamber) from 2004 to August 2012, Vice Chair of the French Competition Authority (1993-2004) and President of the WTO Working Group on Trade and Competition (1994-2003) He was visiting professor at Northwestern University Department of Economics in the United States (1978), Keio University Department of economics in Japan (1984), University of Capetown Business School in South Africa (1991), Haifa University School of Law in Israel (2012) and Global Professor of Antitrust in the New York University School of Law’s Hauser Global Law School (2014). He is currently Visiting Professor at University College London Law School (since 2005) He is member of the editorial board of several scientific journals (“Concurrences”, “ Journal of Competition Law and Economics”, “World Competition”), member of the advisory board of the “Interdisciplinary Center for Competition Law and Initiative, Middle East Initiative” and Chairman of the scientific board of Consumer Unity Trust of India (CUTS), the largest consumer organization in India. Frederic Jenny has written extensively about trade, competition and economic development and has served as an adviser to many developing countries on competition and trade issues. |
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Šarūnas Keserauskas The Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania ŠARŪNAS KESERAUSKAS was appointed as the Chairman of the Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania for the tenure of six years on 4 April 2011. Prior to moving to his current position Mr Keserauskas spent almost two years as a Senior Legal Adviser at the UK Office of Fair Trading. Having graduated with a Master of Laws degree from Vilnius University, Faculty of Law in 1998, Mr Keserauskas continued his studies at King’s College London, where he obtained a LL.M in European Law in 2003 and a PhD in Law in 2010. In 1998 Mr Keserauskas started lecturing at Vilnius University, Faculty of Law, where since 2005 he has been giving lectures on Competition Law. Mr Keserauskas was a visiting Competition Law lecturer at Riga Graduate School of Law (Latvia) from 2000 to 2005. From 1998 to 2009 in addition to his work as a lecturer at Vilnius University, Mr Keserauskas was an associate and then a Competition Law adviser with the law firm LAWIN Lideika, Petrauskas, Valiūnas ir partneriai. Mr Kesearuskas is often invited as a guest speaker to local and international competition events. Presentation |
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Anita Vegter The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets Anita Vegter serves on the Board of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, where she holds the Legal Affairs portfolio and the Consumer portfolio, as well as responsibility for Corporate Services management (including HR and Finance). Anita Vegter (1965) earned a master’s degree in Dutch law from Tilburg University. Ms. Vegter worked as an attorney in private practice from 1990 until 2005. From 2002 until 2005, she was dean of the Dutch Bar Association in the city of Arnhem. Ms. Vegter had been a senior judge of the District Court of Amsterdam since 2006, as well as subdistrict-sector chairwoman since 2009. She served as a member of the Governing Board of the District Court, and was acting President of the District Court of Amsterdam from August 2011 to December 2012. From January 1, 2013 until the launch of the Authority for Consumers and Markets, Ms Vegter was a member of the Board of the Netherlands Competition Authority, and she became one of ACM’s three Board members when it was launched on 1 January 2014. |
Economic activities of public bodies can pose a threat to fair and equal competition, however, municipalities in Europe do business, and often it is an inevitable solution. What regulation is needed in situation when market participants have substantially different backgrounds? What is the role of a competition authority? Is level playing field possible or even needed? What does it mean to consumers and to national economy?
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Alexander Italianer European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition Alexander Italianer is Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition since 2010. He previously held the position of Deputy Secretary General of the European Commission, in charge of the Better Regulation Agenda, and was Chairman of the Impact Assessment Board. Prior to that, Dr Italianer worked in the cabinets of Presidents Barroso and Santer, and Commissioners Verheugen and Telička. He was also Director for International Economic and Financial Affairs between 2002 and 2004. |
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Professor Alison Jones King’s College London Alison Jones is a Professor of Law at King’s College London and a solicitor at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. Prior to joining King's in 1992, Alison read law at Girton College, Cambridge, worked at Slaughter & May and completed a BCL at Christ Church, Oxford. Since joining King’s she has taught Competition Law (EU, UK and US), Trusts, Property, and EU law, but she specialises in competition law. Alison is currently the LLM competition law pathway leader and is the Director of both the LLB Law with European Legal Studies and LLB Law with American Legal Studies programmes. As well as being co-author of an OUP text on EU Competition Law (5th edn, 2014), Alison regularly publishes articles in journals and contributes chapters to edited collections. Alison is particularly interested in comparative EU-US antitrust law and remedies (her first book was on Restitution and European Community Law). Alison has also participated in training programmes for competition agencies and judges and spoken at academic conferences across the globe. |
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W. Michael Kramer, JD, CFE W. Michael Kramer is a US-based attorney and consultant who specializes in providing investigative, training and consulting services to international clients in the area of fraud and corruption. Mr. Kramer’s clients have included the World Bank, numerous United Nations Agencies, USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the European Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank, numerous bilateral aid agencies and International NGOs, as well as eight of the ten largest multi-national corporations. He served as a senior adviser to the Independent Investigating Committee into the UN Oil for Food Program in Iraq (The Volcker Committee) and has worked on anti-corruption matters in almost seventy countries, including major investigations and projects in Eastern Europe, Africa, India and Asia. He is the author of numerous professional articles, training materials and a handbook on procurement fraud, was a contributor to and editor of the Fraud Examination Manual for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and authored the original Legal Section of the CFE Examination. He has taught well over one hundred training courses on five continents on the above topics. He is a co-founder of the International Anti-Corruption Resource Center; http:/www/iacrc.org, and authored the Guide to Combating Corruption and Fraud in Development Projects for that organization; http://guide.iacrc.org. He is widely recognized by his peers and professional organizations as one of the leading experts in the field. Before entering the private sector, Mr. Kramer was a Special Attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, assigned to the investigation and trial of fraud and corruption cases throughout the United States. He received his BA degree in Philosophy from Princeton University and Juris Doctor Degree from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where he was an editor of the Law Journal. He is Certified Fraud Examiner and served as a member of the Board of Regents and faculty member for that organization. |
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Dan Sjöblom The Swedish Competition Authority Dan Sjöblom, born 1964. He graduated as a lawyer from the University of Stockholm, Sweden in 1991. Upon leaving University, he worked at the national competition authority until 1996 when he joined the European Commission and held various posts in the Competition DG, most recently as Head of Merger control in the field of Energy. In March 2009 he was appointed Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority for a term of six years. |
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Adam Jasser The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Poland Adam Jasser served as Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister from March 2010 to March 2014. He was Secretary of Economic Council to the Prime Minister and oversaw the analytical and policy impact assessment department. He coordinated the government’s legislative agenda, with special focus on economic policy, pension reform, business environment and energy. He co-designed and supervised an overhaul of the government’s impact assessment process. Adam Jasser was Programme Director and Board Member of demosEuropa – Centre for European Strategy in 2009-2010, focusing on European economic and political issues. Before that, he spent almost 20 years at Reuters news agency, in roles stretching from translator and head of economic reporting in Warsaw, to bureau chief in Frankfurt and regional editor for central Europe, Balkans and Turkey. Adam Jasser graduated from the University of Warsaw with a Master’s degree in English Philology. He was appointed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk as President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection on March 20, 2014. |
Lack of balance between market power of large retail chains and small producers raises concerns in a number of EU member states as well as in countries outside EU. At the same time actions taken by policy makers differ to a large extent, ranging from guidelines and soft law to a full severity of law. Is any intervention necessary? When and why? Where do interests of consumers, producers and retailers meet?
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Dr. Gundars Strautmanis The Council of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Gundars Strautmanis as a president of the Council of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry represents Latvia also in European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). Gundars Strautmanis has acted as President and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Limited liability company “Lattelecom”. He has also worked in management position of Canadian-Latvian joint venture “FORMULA” as well as in several management positions of the Riga Micro devices Research Institute “ALFA”. Gundars Strautmanis has graduated the Riga Polytechnic Institute and the Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology. He has also gained additional knowledge during studies at the York University (Canada) and the Columbia Business School (USA). |
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Victoria Daskalova Tilburg Law and Economics Centre (TILEC), Tilburg University, the Netherlands Victoria Daskalova is a doctoral candidate at the Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) in Tilburg University in the Netherlands where she has worked since 2010. Originally from Pleven, Bulgaria, Victoria completed her Bachelor degree in Political Science at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, USA as a recipient of the Robertson scholarship. In Tilburg Law School, Victoria obtained an LLM degree in International and European Law (2010) and an MPhil degree in Legal Research (2011), both cum laude. As a student in Tilburg Law School, Victoria served as an Editor and an Editor-in-Chief of the Tilburg Law Review. During her PhD career, Victoria joined DG Competition of the European Commission for a brief atypical traineeship. Victoria’s research focuses on the legal and economic analysis of buyer power, the application of the EU competition rules and US antitrust law to buyer power issues, goals of competition law and challenges for competition law enforcement in a multi-level governance context. In addition to doing research, Victoria assists the faculty with teaching, supervision and coordination in the fields of EU law and EU competition law. |
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Prof. William E. Kovacic George Washington University Law School and United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority William E. Kovacic is the Global Competition Professor of Law and Policy at the George Washington University Law School and Director of its Competition Law Center. Since August 2013, he has served as a non-executive director on the board of the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority. With Ariel Ezrachi, he edits the Journal of Antitrust Enforcement. From January 2006 to October 2011, William E. Kovacic was a member of the Federal Trade Commission and chaired the agency from March 2008 until March 2009. He was the Federal Trade Commission’s General Counsel from 2001 through 2004 and worked for the Federal Trade Commission from 1979 until 1983, first in the Bureau of Competition’s Planning Office and later as an attorney advisor to Commissioner George W. Douglas. |
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Philippe Chauve The Food Task Force DG Competition, European Commission Philippe Chauve is the Head of the Food Task force at the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission. The task-force is working on regulatory and antitrust issues in the food supply chain in Europe. This includes investigations of antitrust cases, the implementation of specific competition rules within the Common Agricultural Policy (concerning inter alia joint sales by farmers), the analysis of suppliers and retailers relationships. The Task force delivered in particular in 2014 an ambitious study on the impact of competition and other factors on choice and innovation in food products. Philippe Chauve has extensive experience in antitrust enforcement and merger procedures. Before heading the task Force he was enforcing competition rules in the energy sector, where he carried out a sector inquiry and many antitrust and merger investigations and implemented unprecedented remedies (such as the first large scale divestiture of assets in European Antitrust History in the E.ON electricity cases). In earlier jobs he also negotiated trade agreements for goods and services in the WTO and between the EU and its trading partners. |