Over the last decade, an increasing number of competition authorities have obtained powers to adopt commitment decisions or other forms of negotiated/ consensual termination of antitrust cases. The terminology used varies depending on the jurisdictions: some refer to these tools as commitment decisions, others as consent decrees, consent orders, or (written) undertakings. Resolution through commitment decisions or other negotiated remedies can be very attractive for competition authorities, companies and third parties, although there are concerns regarding the use of commitment decisions as opposed to full-fledged infringement investigations.
In June 2016, the OECD Competition Committee held a roundtable to discuss commitment decisions in antitrust cases. The discussion took stock of agencies’ experience and explored arguments in favour of and against the use of commitment decisions, judicial review of commitment decisions, and the relationship between commitment decisions and damages actions.
The key findings of the discusion can be accessed here, a detailed summary here and below, all session information and materials including contributions from participating delegations and speakers.
