Speech Kroes: European Competition Policy in the age of globalisation – towards a global competition order?

07 February 2008

Speaking at the First Symposium in Innsbruck, Comissioner Kroes underlined that competition authorities need to work closer together. “At present there are too many jurisdictional barriers which hamper efficient antitrust enforcement”, she said. “Effective enforcement of competition rules in an international environment requires that authorities in Europe cooperate with authorities outside”, Mrs Kroes added.

 

“We already have dedicated cooperation agreements with the United States, Canada and Japan, and contacts with their authorities are frequent and intense.”

 

“Regrettably, at this moment we are still unable to share actionable evidence, the kind of information that is most useful for cartel investigations. The time has come to explore ways to enhance some of our bilateral agreements and to share such information among a small number of enforcers.

 

Mrs Kroes also outlined the agreements with other countries worldwide. “I think it is fair to say that bilateral agreements and cooperation deliver good results. But bilateralism has clear limitations”, she said. “Creating more convergence must also imply going multilateral.”

 

Full speech

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