Bundeskartellamt hosts international conferences on competition in Berlin from 4-6 May 2022

The Bundeskartellamt hosts the 21st ICN Annual Conference and the 21st International Conference on Competition in Berlin (#IKK2022, #ICN2022Berlin)

- Back-to-back conferences hosted by the Bundeskartellamt in Berlin from 4-6 May 2022; the in-person events will also be livestreamed

- Over 450 representatives from more than 80 countries

The Bundeskartellamt is bringing together two of the most renowned international events dealing with competition policy and competition law enforcement, the International Conference on Competition (IKK) and the Annual Conference of the International Competition Network (ICN).

In 1982 the International Conference on Competition was launched by the Bundeskartellamt in Berlin, where the Bundeskartellamt was based at the time, and has since then been held every two years. This year the Bundeskartellamt will also host the annual conference of the ICN, the International Competition Network founded in 2001, which today counts 140 member agencies from 130 jurisdictions.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt and ICN Chair: “This is the second time since 2005 that the Bundeskartellamt is hosting the IKK and the ICN Annual Conference at the same time. We have established the IKK to bring together competition experts from all over the world. This year our discussions will once again focus on exciting topics looking, among other things, at the intersection between politics and competition law. The ICN was created as a platform for competition agencies to cooperate, discuss and establish international standards. The more the world is drifting apart, the more important it is to bring agencies, policymakers and industry together to uphold the general concept of competition. For the benefit of consumers, we have to make sure that markets function well even in times of crisis, economic shifts and geopolitical changes that impact energy generation and supply chains.”

The IKK will be opened with a greeting by Robert Habeck, Minister for Economic Affairs, followed by keynote speeches by Sven Giegold, State Secretary, and André Schwämmlein, CEO of Flix. The subsequent panel discussion will address the growing demands placed on competition law by policymakers, and the interplay between competition law and other areas of law, such as consumer protection and data protection. The conference will take place on 4 May from 9 am to 12.15 pm.

The ICN Annual Conference will commence on 4 May at 2 pm. Power talks, keynotes, panel discussions and breakout sessions will deal with the standard of proof, cartel enforcement in the next decade, regulatory and competition law tools in digital markets, merger control and effective remedies, sustainability, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agencies’ investigative processes and international enforcement cooperation, among other topics.

Detailed information on the programmes is available on the conference websites. The conferences will also be livestreamed. The livestreams will be available without prior registration at www.ikk2022.de and www.icn2022berlin.de.