Breakfast-debate with Lluis Saurí, Head of Unit of the Economists Team of the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission
On Thursday, 19 January, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg held, within the framework of its Working Committee “Competence Spain“, a hybrid breakfast-debate with Lluís Saurí Romero, Head of Unit of the Economists Team of the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission (DG COMP). The presentation was on “Competition policy, green transition and sustainability objectives”.
The breakfast-debate started with a brief introduction by Miguel Troncoso, President of the Chamber’s “Competencia España” Working Committee. Saurí then began his speech by contextualising the need to carry out a rigorous control of State aid that facilitates maintaining the criteria of efficiency and competition in the markets in a post-COVID era and in the current framework of the energy crisis.
The decarbonisation that the European Green Deal envisages for 2050 is one of the challenges that Saurí mentioned as an example of the need to emphasise resource efficiency through the control of State aid.
Market distorsions
With the successive crises of recent years, public investment has taken on a special role. As Saurí explained, this state aid must be duly audited to ensure that its impact is as intended by the institutions, as these injections of capital inevitably cause distortions in the market.
In this respect, the challenge lies, in Saurí’s words, in finding a balance that “facilitates the achievement of objectives while minimising risks”. The speaker also explained several of the criteria that make it possible to resolve this coexistence between economic incentive and distortion of competition.
During his speech, Saurí also gave a brief historical review of State aid control, analysed how this control must be adapted to the circumstances of each historical moment and defended the fact that, if carried out correctly, State aid control can be “a good instrument for designing intelligent industrial policies”.
After the speaker’s intervention, there was a Q&A session in which attendees were able to share their concerns on the subject under debate.
Virtual breakfast-debate with Sergio Baches Opi from the EC Legal Service
The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg has hosted on Wednesday 29th June a new virtual breakfast-debate with Sergio Baches in the framework of the working group “Competition Spain”, a committee in which member companies of the Chamber address specific issues and aspects of European Competition Law and Policy that may affect them; or in which they are interested in deepening with the aim of positioning Spain as a leader in this field within the european sphere.
The event, followed by almost 20 companies, was led by Sergio Baches Opi, member of the legal service of the European Commission, who reviewed the recent jurisprudence of the Court of Justice on cartels and presented the most relevant cases of the last two years in this area: from the condenser cartel or the electrical cable cartel to the ‘Sumal case’.
Miguel Troncoso, President of the working group “Competition Spain”, acted as moderator during the webinar; in which he also encouraged participants to reflect on the scope of responsibility for the actions of the different parties that integrate a sanctioned company.
After an intense year of CJEU jurisprudence, Baches Opi has summarised the arguments used by the Executive of the European Union to determine whether or not there is bid rigging by the companies accused, and when the subsidiary can be held liable for the conduct of its parent company “directly” involved in the infraction.
Luncheon-debate with Olivier Guersent, Director General for Competition of the European Commission
Yesterday, Monday 14th March, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg held in Brussels a luncheon-debate with Olivier Guersent, Director General for Competition of the European Commission, sponsored by Telefónica. The theme of the event revolved around the global competitiveness of European industries and the relationship between industrial policy and the European Union’s competition policy. More than 70 participants attended the event, including members of the Chamber, company managers, delegates from Autonomous Communities and representatives of Spanish and European organisations.
The conference was opened by Pablo López-Álvarez, President of the Chamber, who took the opportunity to thank all those present for their attendance, and then dedicated a few words of special recognition to the extensive career of the speaker Guersent and his long career in various positions of responsibility in European institutions. López-Álvarez also took the opportunity to highlight the complexity of the current geopolitical context derived from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its direct implications on the global market.
European sovereignty
The President of the Chamber also introduced Pablo de Carvajal, Secretary General and Regulatory Affairs of Telefónica, sponsor of the event. De Carvajal highlighted that the continuous transformation of the industry and economy in diverse issues such as digitalisation make a joint industrial policy that promotes European sovereignty in strategic sectors such as telecommunications indispensable. After her speech, he gave the floor to Olivier Guersent.
Guersent dedicated his speech to explaining the specific areas of action of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, highlighting the relationship between competition policy and industrial policy in the promotion of global competition in European industries. Guersent also stressed the importance of creating a European economic and industrial system that is more resilient to global instability.
The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session where participants were able to express their opinions and raise different issues related to the presentation.
From the Chamber we would like to show special thanks to Bodegas Barbadillo, whose wines could be tasted by all the attendees, as well as the participants, making this event a very successful luncheon-debate.
Online breakfast debate with Joaquín López-Vallés, Director of the CNMC’s Department for the Promotion of Competition.
The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg has held its first virtual breakfast-debate of the year in the framework of its working group “Competition Spain”, a committee in which member companies of the Chamber address specific issues and aspects of competition law and policy that may affect them.
The webinar was attended by Joaquín López-Vallés, Director of the CNMC‘s Department for the Promotion of Competition. Under the title “The CNMC’s challenges for the coming years”, López-Vallés explained the main lines of action in the CNMC’s area of competition advocacy, as set out in the new strategic plan 2021-2026 and in the agency’s action plan 2021-2022.
Miguel Troncoso, Chairman of the working committee of Competition Spain, acted as moderator, welcoming and briefly introducing the speaker and outlining the main milestones of his professional career. He also thanked him for his willingness to participate and share with all the attendees.
Promote competition
López Vallés then took the floor to give a quick introduction to the CNMC and explain the basic principles of the body’s actions to promote competition. He emphasised that the main objective of the institution is to promote and defend the proper functioning of all markets, looking after the interests of consumers and companies by exercising consultative tasks before the regulatory authorities thanks to its high degree of specialisation and independence.
During his speech, López Vallés also highlighted the current and near-future challenges for the CNMC’s competition advocacy work. Among them, he pointed out the major implications that the pandemic has had when it comes to promoting pro-competitive regulatory frameworks and public intervention, as well as the need to adapt to the new prevailing realities of digital economic systems.
Afterwards, there was a question-and-answer session where the attendees were able to express their doubts and comments on the issues discussed during the day.
The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg would like to thank both the speaker and the members of the working group for their attendance and participation in this breakfast-debate.
Breakfast-debate with Beatriz de Guindos Talavera, Director of Competition of the CNMC
Last Wednesday, February 17th, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organised its second event within the framework of the Working Commission “Competencia España”, with the purpose to address specific issues of competition law and policy that may affect the member companies of the Chamber.
The virtual breakfast-debate counted with the participation of Beatriz de Guindos Talavera, Director of Competition of the CNMC about “the Competition law reform”.
Miguel Troncoso, managing partner in Brussels of Gómez-Acebo & Pombo and Chairman of the Commission, introduced Beatriz de Guindos Talavera and gave an overview of her extensive professional career and thanked her for her participation in this second Commission event.
De Guindos spoke about the imminent reform of the Competition Law as a result, among other aspects, of the transposition of the ECN+ Directive.
Within this reform, the speaker mainly highlighted the four amendments that affect the law.
During the question-and-answer session, the attendees were able to express their doubts and comments on numerous issues of interest.
These meetings are intended to be a platform for debate in “neutral territory” between companies, lawyers and consultants associated with the Chamber with officials from DG Competition, the CNMC and members of the Spanish and European judiciary.
Virtual breakfast-debate with Carles Esteva, Deputy Director General of DG Competition at the European Commission
Last Thursday, October 22nd, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized its first event within the framework of the Work Commission “Competencia España”, with the purpose to address specific issues of competition law and policy that may affect the member companies of the Chamber. The virtual breakfast-debate included the attendance of Carles Esteva, Deputy Director General of the DG Competition at the European Commission.
Juan Rodriguez-Villa and Pablo López Álvarez, respectively President and Vice-President of the Chamber, gave a welcome speech and thanked the attendees for their support to the Chamber’s working group “Competencia España“.
Miguel Troncoso, managing partner of Gómez-Acebo & Pombo in Brussels and Chairman of the Commission, introduced Carles Esteva and reviewed his extensive professional career and thanked him for his participation in this first event of the Commission.
Esteva explained the challenges currently faced by the Commission and its projects, and outlined the main existing State aids. During the question time, the attendees were able to express their doubts and comments on numerous issues of interest.
These meetings are intended to be a platform for discussion in “neutral territory” between companies, lawyers and consultants associated with the Chamber with officials from the DG Competition, the CNMC and members of the Spanish and European judiciary.
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