PRESS RELEASE

The Italian Antitrust Authority hosts a meeting between competition authorities around the world on 12^th and 13^th December 2013. The objective of this meeting is to promote and strengthen initiatives that remove regulatory obstacles to competition among enterprises. The proceedings of the workshop will be opened by the chairman Giovanni Pitruzzella, Senator for life Mario Monti and Bruno Lasserre, the President of the French Authority.

Delegates from 57 competition authorities from all five continents, the World Bank, the OECD, the European Commission and experts appointed by the same authorities will meet in Rome on 12^th and 13^th December 2013 for a workshop of the International Competition Network (ICN).  More than 120 participants are expected to attend.

The topic of the meeting is advocacy, activities aimed at the promotion of competition, both by means of the removal of regulatory barriers and regulations and the development of liberalization processes as well as by means of the dissemination of a culture in favour of competition for the benefit of consumers. The Advocacy Working Group is one of the working groups that comprise the ICN and aims to provide a theoretical and practical support to national competition authorities for the dissemination of a culture that favours competition around the world.

Speakers during the days of the conference

Proceedings will be introduced on Thursday 12^th December from 09.00 am by Giovanni Pitruzzella, the chairman of the Italian Authority, and by speeches by Senator Mario Monti and by Bruno Lasserre, Vice President of the ICN and President of the French Competition Authority. The distinctive feature and the added value of the ICN Workshop lie in the range of participation that offers the possibility to exchange and share experiences to representatives of competition authorities in Countries where the possibilities of interaction are rarer (this brings to mind many Countries in Asia, Africa and South America). In the plenary sessions there will also be interventions by Presidents or prominent figures in competition authorities which have recently undergone important reform programmes and a strengthening of their powers (including Mexico, Morocco and Portugal). The issues raised will also be explored in special breakout sessions: these are smaller interactive groups where all the participants will bring their own experience.

Topics to be discussed

The discussion will address the current challenges that advocacy must face such as recession, liberalization of regulated sectors, the purchase of goods and services by the public sector, the promotion of competition in emerging economies. The discussion will also examine in depth the contribution that can be provided by international organizations such as the ICN, the World Bank, the OECD and the European Commission.

Finally an account will be given of the progress of the projects that are an expression of the work of the Advocacy Working Group and future areas of initiatives by this group will be outlined.

Note for the press, radio and television: to get an accreditation for this event, please contact the Directorate for Foreign and Institutional Relations on phone number +39 0685821842 and by email to [email protected].