Chillin'Competition

Not even two months have passed, but it already feels like a different (let’s call it golden) age.

On 23 and 24 August, around 90 pioneers, led by Peter Alexiadis, gathered in Vathy for the 1^st Ithaca Competition Summit. I have wonderful memories of those days (and I think I speak on behalf of the rest of the attendees). The place is really stunning – I am not saying this to be nice to Peter, who, I think, would rather not have the word spread – and the academic side of things was, as expected, of the highest level.

Here are some of the materials used in the conference – remember they will come out in a special issue of the Journal of European Competition Law & Practice.

Session 1: Enforcement & Review in Competition Matters

• Marc van der Woude (General Court, Luxembourg) — Assessments of Complex Economic Issues by a Review Court
• Renato Nazzini (King’s College London) — The Arbitration of Competition Law Disputes
• William Kovacic (King’s College London/George Washington University, DC) — US Antitrust Policy under the Trump Administration

Session 2: Behavioural Practices – Evolving Standards

• Assimakis Komninos (White & Case, Brussels/University College London) — What Can Private Enforcement teach Public Enforcement in Article 102 Cases?
• Yours truly (I will say a word about my presentation on the blog in the coming days) — Finding the Appropriate Legal Standard by which to Assess Competition Law Violations
• Massimiliano Kadar (European Commission/King’s College London) – Applying Article 102 to rebates in the Wake of the Intel Judgment: the Qualcomm case
• Cani Fernández (Cuatrecasas, Madrid) – The Use of Presumptions and Burdens of Proof in Competition Law Cases: The Intel Saga

Session 3: Merger Policy – Current and Emerging Trends

• Eliana Garcés (The Brattle Group, DC) – Conglomerate and Vertical Mergers: Current Thinking
• Jorge Padilla (CompassLexecon, Madrid) – Mergers and Innovation
• Nikolaos Peristerakis (Linklaters, Brussels) – The Treatment of Efficiencies Defences under EU Merger Control: A Practitioner’s View

Session 4: Regulatory Policy Meets Antitrust Paradigms

• Martin Cave OBE (London School of Economics) – Assessing Platform Mergers in Practice
• Peter Alexiadis (Gibson Dunn, Brussels/King’s College London) – Understanding How Regulatory Standards Influence Competition Law Standards in the Assessment of Abusive Conduct
• Spyros Droukopoulos (Oxera, Brussels) – Most Favoured Nation Clauses: Competition Enforcement in the Face of Regulatory Intervention