OECD competition work: Central and Eastern

Europe

John Davies

Competition Division, OECD

2012

Assisting economies in transition: 1947

“Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist”

George Marshall, Secretary of State. Harvard, 1947

European Economic Co-operation

…but only in Western Europe

Beginnings of the OECD

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“the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will become one of the principal institutions through which we pursue the great aim of consolidating the Atlantic Community.”

John F. Kennedy,US President, 1961

“Perhaps one of the most important lessons learned so far is that […] we needed stronger institutional transformations.

Creating democratic institutions and governance, new social norms and values, stronger civil societies, openness to private organisations and entrepreneurship, and a network of regulators is related to this partial reform. 

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria, 2009

Assisting economies in transition: 1989

The OECD today

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Competition Committee

National delegations Invited experts

GovernmentCompetition agency (-ies)

OECD secretariat

OECD’s Competition Capacity Building Activities (1)

• Annual meetings:– Global Forum on Competition (some 90 delegations)– OECD-IDB Latin American Competition Forum

• Two Regional Centres on Competition Law and Policy– Budapest and Seoul: Joint ventures with host governments– Facilitate targeted enforcement training on a multi-country basis– Convenient hub for officials in the region to exchange knowledge

and experiences– Bring together competition agencies at similar stages of

development

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OECD’s Competition Capacity Building Activities (2)

• Seminars and workshops:– Enforcement & investigative techniques– Building the institutions– Wider policy issues

• Project-based programmes:– Long term: Programmes to reduce bid rigging in Latin America

and South Africa– Short term: Competition assessment programmes in Chinese

Taipei and Indonesia

• Supporting competition judges

OECD’s Competition Capacity Building Activities (3)

• Advising on draft competition laws (e.g. China, Mexico, Russian Federation)

• Peer reviews of non-Members’ national competition policies:

Argentina El Salvador South AfricaBrazil Panama Chinese TaipeiIndonesia Peru UkraineColombia Russian Federation

OECD-GVH Regional Centre, Budapest

• Established 16th February 2005

“To foster the development of competition policy, competition law and competition culture in the South-East, East and Central European region

and thereby contribute to economic growth and prosperity in the region.”

Resources (1)

• OECD expertise in topics covered in roundtables, eg:

Market Definition (2012)Unilateral Disclosure of Information with Anticompetitive Effects (2012)Impact Evaluation of Merger Decisions (2011)Promoting Compliance with Competition Law (2011)Competition in Hospital Services (2012)Procedural Fairness: Competition Authorities, Courts and Recent Developments (2011)Economic Evidence in Merger Analysis (2011)Remedies in Merger Cases (2011)

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Resources (2)

• Commitment from OECD Member Countries:– Case studies– Joint work on scenarios– Experts: competition agency staff, academics,

private practitioners, judges• (Including especially) commitment from GVH

– Expert speakers– Dedicated staff– Financial support 14

Tell us what we can do to help

“…to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world…a shared commitment to market economies backed by

democratic institutions and focused on the wellbeing of all citizens. ”

john.davies@oecd.org