Competition enforcement practices

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The standard of review by courts in competition cases

The June 2019 OECD roundtable on the standard of review by courts in competition cases examined the review of enforcement decisions and investigation steps by courts, and referred to methods ensuring that courts have access to expertise in competition law and economics. Read the OECD background note and tune in to watch a video with Judge Ian Forrester of the General Court of the European Union, where he talks about some key points from the discussion.
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Treatment of legally privileged information in competition proceedings

The different approaches to legal professional privilege among jurisdictions create challenges regarding companies’ international operations, and authorities’ co-operation and sharing of information in cross-border cases involving jurisdictions offering dissimilar levels of protection. In November 2018, the OECD held a discussion on the treatment of privileged information in competition proceedings. All related materials for the discussion are available on this page.
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More OECD work on Competition

Main areas of work include: Digital Economy and Innovation, Market Studies, International Co-operation, Evaluation of Competition Interventions, Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement and Competition Assessment.
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Effective competition policy requires effective and efficient application of competition law and economics. Much of the work carried out by the OECD focuses on the background and framework of competition policy, and how competition authorities can learn from each other and from academic work to improve their effectiveness.

Processes and economic analysis: key to effective competition policy

Good processes are essential: a fair, predictable and transparent process bolsters the legitimacy of a competition authority’s actions. Whatever the legal framework, consistency, predictability and fairness in decision-making processes can be fostered by transparency about legal standards, agency policies, practices and procedures as well as the judicial review process.

Good economic analysis is also necessary. Any assessment of competition, whether carried out for law enforcement or wider policy purposes, will require a sound understanding of economic principles, and based on careful analysis of the evidence, possibly including statistical and other techniques for the analysis of data. This analysis need not be sophisticated, but all competition professionals need to be prepared to consider and use sophisticated econometric or other techniques where needed, or to respond to evidence of this sort presented by interested parties.

Applying competition policy: the OECD as a forum for exchange of experiences

Applied competition policy therefore requires practitioners to stay in touch with best practices from their peers and from applied academic studies. The OECD provides a forum for such best practices to be identified, debated and published and – where relevant – codified in the form of Recommendations to its member states.