Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Almunia reviews the state of competition enforcement in Europe, (Oct 14, 2014)
By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.
The impact of globalization in enforcement practice is one of the significant trends in competition policy, Joaquin Almunia, Vice President of the European Commission (EC) for Competition Policy, stated in remarks before the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union’s 31st annual Competition Policy Conference today in Brussels.
Almunia began his address, entitled “Trends and milestones in competition policy since 2010,” by noting that there has been a significant increase of merger cases involving non-European Union companies and such global transactions represent almost 60 percent of all EC merger cases. Globalization of mergers and acquisitions is also reflected in the growing international cooperation among enforcement authorities. The EC has cooperated with other agencies in half of its significant merger cases when it has had to intervene.
It is vital to keep antitrust and competition enforcement free from political interference, Almunia stated. As an example, he pointed to the EC’s settlement with Google of its investigation that the technology company abused its dominant position in the European search market. The Commission’s request to Google to improve its proposed commitments was not due to any political pressure or bias against its U.S. origin. In fact, the main arguments that the EC took into account in asking for improved commitments were provided by some U.S. complainants, he stated.
The growing integration of business on a global scale is also apparent in the EC’s fight against cartels, Almunia continued. For example, recent cartel investigations and decisions in the market for car parts have been conducted in close cooperation with the U. S. Department of Justice. Also, the EC has agreements and memorandum of understandings with the competition authorities of Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, China, and India. In addition, the EC is an active participant in the International Competition Network, Almunia noted.
An area in which competition policy has made the most difference in the past years has been banking and finance, in Almunia’s view. At the end of last year, the EC meted out a total of €1.7 billion in fines in two landmark cartel decisions. The cases in the financial sector are a top priority and the Commission has spared no efforts to unveil irresponsible practices that go back to before the outbreak of the financial crisis, affect millions of people, and undermine one of the pillars of our economy.
State aid policy has been overhauled in the past two years and is used to ensure that the support granted by Europe’s governments does not distort competition in the internal market, according to Almunia. However, many European Union (EU) governments have had to consolidate their budget in recent years so the EC has designated a state aid modernization strategy to help them improve the quality of public spending. State aid has also been used to avoid selective treatment using tax regimes. The Commission has been tackling the issue of tax competition since the late 1990’s.
The United States and EU have established a transatlantic partnership, covering such areas as the economy, education, science, and culture. “We all stand to gain by keeping markets open and the playing field level. The current negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership are another excellent opportunity to make progress in the same direction, Almunia concluded.
News: Antitrust