Agenda

    Wednesday, 6 December 2023

  • 07:30 - 08:30

    Registration and breakfast

  • 08:30 - 08:45

    Welcome address

    Raphaël De Coninck

    Vice President, Charles River Associates

    Margaret Sanderson

    Vice President & Practice Leader, Charles River Associates

  • 08:45 - 09:45

    Session 1: Antitrust in cost-of-living crisis: what can competition policy do to help?

    Rising concentration, rising profits, rising prices – and decreasing costs. Disentangling the root causes of recent paradigm shifts in applied competition policy, this panel discusses the latest insights into the drivers of increasing concentration and profits. Can we identify the boundaries between efficient and harmful concentration? How much of it is to blame for Europe’s cost-of-living crisis – and what tools do Authorities have to tame it (beyond merger control)? The panel will discuss recent experiences in detecting collusion, preventing public price announcements, price and pass-on controls, and blaming and shaming along the (food) supply chain. 

    Chris Conlon

    Associate Professor of Economics, New York University Stern School of Business

    Damien Gerard

    Prosecutor General, Belgian Competition Authority

    Yelena Larkin

    Associate Professor of Finance, The Schulich School of Business, York University

    Ana Sofia Rodrigues

    Commissioner, Portuguese Competition Authority

    Lars Wiethaus - Moderator

    Vice President, Charles River Associates

  • 09:45 - 10:15

    Keynote address

    Olivier Guersent

    Director-General, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission

  • 10:15 - 11:15

    Session 2: From poetry to prose: first experiences of digital regulation

    We’ve entered the most important phase of digital regulation: concrete application. We can think of digital regulation like AI. Both have expanded fast in recent years and have huge potential, but they require training and their full effects are yet to be seen. Both are built on a projection of past data and previous experiences, but their true value depends on how we use them in the future and for what ultimate objective. Both come in two phases: design and application.

    Many regulatory tools have been designed in Europe – now comes the time of practical application. A lot of learning by doing is underway. A panel of top enforcers and academics will discuss first experiences and what to expect next.

    Amelia Fletcher

    Professor of Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich Business School

    Joshua Gans

    Professor of Strategic Management, University of Toronto

    Lluís Saurí Romero

    Acting Chief Economist, DG Competition, European Commission

    Fiona Scott Morton

    Theodore Nierenberg Professor of Economics; Yale School of Management, Senior Consultant to CRA

    Martijn Snoep

    Chairman, Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (A