Bundeswettbewerbsbehrde

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BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE Federal Competition
Authority of Austria

• Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde
• GD Dr. Theodor Thanner
• European Competition Day, 13 and 14 May 2009,
• Brno, Czech Republic

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Regulation 1/2003- 5 years on -
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• Form is the sworn enemy of caprice, the twin
  sister of liberty.
• Jhering, Geist des römischen Rechts auf den
  verschiedenen Stufen seiner Entwicklung, 2.
  Theil, 2. Abteilung, 3. Auflage 1875 U 470.

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An Expedition
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• 27 mountaineers
• with EC-equipment
• climbing a mountain

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• Edward Theodore Compton, 1918
• Großglockner, 3798m

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Content
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• ECN
• Cooperation
• Principle of Subsidiarity
• Regulation 1/2003 quo vadis?
• Best placed authority
• Limits of NCAs investigative powers
• The role of the judge
• Legal Protection
• The Role of Regional Cooperation within ECN
• Outlook

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ECN
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• Cooperation
• Best placed authority
• New investigative powers
• Exchange of information and evidence

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Cooperation
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• Principle of Subsidiarity
• Communication
• Transparency
• Confidentiality

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Principle of SubsidiarityArt 5 EC-Treaty
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• It is a guiding principle for defining the
  boundary between MS and EU
• Exclusive competence of EC subsidiarity
  principle does not apply
• Shared competence of MS and EC decentralisation
• EC only if objectives cannot be achieved
  sufficiently by MS and if they can be better
  achieved by the EC

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Reg 1/2003 quo vadis? Case Study - Best placed
authority
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• EC - MS partnership marked by division of tasks
• Priority setting by Competition Authorities
• Petrol markets no priority of the EC shifted to
  national level
• NCA took responsibility and investigated

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Reg 1/2003 quo vadis? Case Study Limits of
NCAs investigative powers
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• Sector inquiry into fuel markets
• national investigations gt good results
• European retail- and wholesale prices are linked
  to these notations gt notations have tremendous
  impact on price developments
• FCA of Austria (A) cannot send formal information
  requests directly to a company based in London
• More transparency gt more rational actions
• Isnt there a need for regulation?

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Reg 1/2003 quo vadis?
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• The role of the judges
• Austria Cartel Court as decision-making body
• Is coherent application of Community rules
  ensured in national judiciary?
• How could judges be more integrated in the
• ECN?

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Legal Protection
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• Transparency vs business secrets
• Confidentiality between NCA vs confidentiality
• between law firms
• Communication

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The Role of Regional Cooperation within ECN
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• An example of successful regional cooperation
• Marchfeld Competition Forum
• 13 national authorities
• First meeting Schloss Hof (July 2008)
• Second Meeting Innsbruck (Feb 2009)
• More information
• http//www.bwb.gv.at/BWB/MarchfeldCompetitionFo
  rum/default.htm

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The Role of Regional Cooperation within ECN
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• Objectives strengthening of cooperation on
  regional level
• Future tasks and prospects
• Competition and Financial Crisis
• The importance of regional cooperation grows with
  the ECNs tasks and scope

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Outlook
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• Cooperation based on partnership
• Transparency and communication
• New effective investigative powers
• More convergence in remaining fields
• Regional cooperation built upon the ECNs
  framework

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Conclusion
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• Not to bend the rules but to stand the rules.

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BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE

• Thank you for your attention!