23 April 2014

Almunia: Keeping the global playing field level

Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Competition Policy, Joaquín Almunia, spoke on his vision for the ICN of the future: A global forum where independent, well-funded, and well-respected authorities get together to keep international markets open, competitive and fair.

The main theme chosen for this year’s ICN conference is state-owned enterprises and competition. From the EU perspective, the way to deal with this issue is quite clear: all market players must receive the same treatment, without distinctions based on ownership or geographic location. Consumers and law-abiding businesses suffer the same harm if the anti-competitive practices come from domestic or foreign firms; from private companies or state-owned enterprises.

Therefore, the responsibility of a competition authority is to keep markets open, level, and contestable – regardless of who breaks the rules. The principle of competitive neutrality underpins competition policy since the beginning of European integration. The EU Treaty itself states that the system of property ownership is a national matter.

Competitive neutrality is central to the enforcement of competition rules in Europe. Without submitting state-owned enterprises to the same antitrust rules, the Single Market could not work. Indeed, the benefits of competitive neutrality are universally recognised by multilateral organisations. And public subsidies must also be under control to avoid distortions of competition.

International free trade would benefit greatly if we found a global common ground on these issues. As world markets continue to integrate, the need to find a global common ground extends to every aspect of competition policy. To competition authorities, this means above all reinforcing bilateral and multilateral co-operation.

The Commission works with agencies outside the EU in 30 per cent of unilateral conduct cases, about half of its major merger investigations, and 60 per cent of cartel decisions.  Our recent decisions in the Libor and Euribor manipulation cases and in the car parts cases are good examples of such cooperation, which is increasingly becoming the norm today. We need to make sure that different authorities take closely aligned decisions on cases with international implications.

But co-ordinating our efforts in individual cases is not enough. With the rapid growth of competition regimes around the world, the risk for conflicting outcomes is real and must be addressed in a multilateral setting. 

Finally, a modern competition authority is also expected to promote a common competition culture. We need to explain the significance of our work and the benefits it brings. We need to talk to all levels of society – formal and informal. We have to engage legislators, businesses, the courts of justice and the general public.

Full speech

 

© European Commission