Participants of the Russian Competition Week emphasized the importance of reacting to the challenges of digital economy

Aspects of competition policy in the digitalization era were discussed in Veliky Novgorod

On 20 September 2017, at the extended FAS Collegium, invited experts and representatives of competition authorities from different countries shard opinions and ideas on competition policy in the era of digital economy.

Member of Collegium (Minister) for Competition and Antimonopoly Regulation of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Marat Kusainov emphasized that the primary task for the antimonopoly community is developing the common digital space, which will require revising the existing tools. “Only together we can be successful. We are hoping for close cooperation and coordinated actions. The markets move forwards and interact with adjacent sectors. Under such conditions there should be an ongoing working site to protect competition in the digital economy”.

According to General Director, Austria’s Federal Competition Authority, Theodor Tanner, digital business is getting increasingly global and the task for competition authorities from all countries is to pursue intensive cooperation to suppress new unfair practices. He presented the latest achievements of Austria competition body in investigating IT-related cases. In particular, he emphasized the importance of access to the data stores in clouds and engaging experts in investigating such cases that will be able to decipher cloud codes. Considering economic concentration, Austria’s Federal Competition Authority uses a threshold test and is advancing a system of control over digital data.

Head of UNCTAD’s Competition Policy and Consumer Protection Branch, Teresa Moreira pointed out that digital economy opens numerous opportunities as well as risks for consumers. According to Ms. Moreira, expanding anticompetitive practices under economic digitalization is a new challenge for all countries, and international cooperation, particularly, under UNCTAD umbrella, will give the necessary support to young agencies from different countries in solving the issues. She also emphasized that FAS put forward a timely initiative at UNCTAD to strengthen international cooperation in the antimonopoly law.

A judge of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union, Denis Kolos, focused his report on the specifics of judicial work and developing competition on the cross-border markets. He gave examples from judicial practices of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Denis Kolos said: “The Union competition law comprises all three types of policies provided for by the EAEU Treaty: common, coherent and coordinated. The policy choice depends on the market nature and the nationality of an economic entity. It also provides for unification of legal regulation and assigning the function of judicial control over the drafted acts to the supranational body”.

Next speaker was Stats-Secretary, Deputy Chair of the International Counsel Union, an Arbiter of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Lyudmila Nosova.

The International Counsel Union took part in the Competition Week in Russia for the first time. The Union has existed for already 30 years and it units more than 50 counsel communities from the CIS and the near abroad. It facilitates more efficient work towards harmonizing the laws, which is one of the Union’s priorities.

Chairman of the National Competition Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Reza Shiva thanked the event organizers for an opportunity to exchange experiences and ideas at the international level and outlined the structure and tasks of Iran competition authority.

Commissioner, Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE), Cristiane Alkmin Junqueira  Schmidt presented CADE anti-cartel experience, underlining the importance of analyzing the state of competition on the digital markets in other countries.

The final report was given by a Minister at the Moscow Government, Head of the Department for Economic Policy and Moscow Development, Vladimir Yefimov, about the impact of the digital era upon development of competition, the public procurement system and tariff regulation.