Competitive neutrality is of critical importance to effective competition policy. As governments around the world are strengthening their laws and enforcement against competition violations, it is essential that states themselves do not unduly distort or restrict the playing field.
In 2015, the OECD gathered competition experts and representatives of other policy communities (investment, trade, tax, regulated industries and regulatory governance) to discuss challenges arising from state interventions in the market and what competition authorities could do to address the distortions that such interventions can create. A separate discussion brought to light a variety of best practices and useful laws and instruments available around the world to address competition distortions. The exchange produced two documents:
- A Note on Competition Policy & Competitive Neutrality aimed primarily at policy fields other than competition, laying down the fundamental principles and scope of application of competition law and how it can level the competitive field and enhance neutrality.
- An Inventory of Competitive Neutrality Distortions and Measures categorising the various types of distortions identified during the discussions, the rules and tools available in various jurisdictions as well as OECD related instruments.
The full set of documents issued for the 2015 discussions can be found below.
