Competition authorities rarely consider democracy in their day-to-day functioning, yet the notion that competition is important for the maintenance of a healthy democracy was a core part of the motivation for introducing antitrust laws in some jurisdictions.
In December 2024, the OECD held a best practice roundtable on "The interaction between competition and democracy" to explore the link between these two policy areas. This page contains all session information and materials.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Shared values - Competition and democracy share many values and are linked by concerns that ineffective competition contributes to the accumulation of economic power that poses risks to democracy.
- Independent and transparent authorities - The discussion emphasised the importance of independent and transparent competition authorities as part of building trust in public institutions.
- Enforcement benefits - Finally, while democracy was not directly considered in competition enforcement decisions often, enforcement may benefit democracy indirectly and could be supported through prioritisation.
Read the detailed summary of the discussion and the executive summary with key findings for more.
