What do private companies feel about municipal authorities being involved in activities that restrict competition? This is one of the areas for which research funds are being provided by Swedish Competition Authority. This year the Swedish Competition Authority will award just over five and a half million Swedish kronor to nine new research projects, […]

  “The Pros and Cons of Standard Setting” was the theme of the Swedish Competition Authority’s international seminar in Stockholm on 12 November 2010. Ten invited speakers gave presentations on the topic. The presentations are available here. A report of the same name collects the five papers from the seminar and is available here.

  Many agencies issue annual reports, updates and other information about their activities. As a number of 2009/10 annual reports have recently been finalised, today’s sample links offer the opportunity to catch up on some of last year’s highlights and see how various agencies present their activities. Romania Ireland Netherlands Finland Bulgaria Czech Republic USA […]

  The Swedish Competition Authority has an ongoing project to raise the awareness of public procurement officers about bid-rigging. The initiative includes a checklist on how to recognise bid-rigging, a brochure with examples, and online ads. For more information, click here. Related to the topic, the Cartel Working Group has an upcoming project on cartel […]

  Many competition agencies offer subscriptions to electronic newsletters or email alerts about their activities and news. Here are a few examples: Portugal Australia European Union Ireland Poland Ukraine United Kingdom Zambia Sweden South Africa

  The ICN’s Working Group on Agency Effectiveness was formed in 2009 to address a variety of factors that influence the ability of competition agencies to achieve their objectives in an efficient and effective way, including, inter alia, strategic planning and prioritization, effective project delivery, knowledge management, and ex post evaluation. A new initiative of […]

The Agency Effectiveness Working Group (AEWG) has prepared a handbook chapter on agency strategic planning and prioritization, addressing the objectives of strategic plans, the prerequisites of and constraints related to effective strategic planning, internal processes and external consultations, communication on strategic planning, and the use of prioritization criteria and the process of prioritization. The chapter […]

  On TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010 at 8:00-9:30 Washington DC time, 14:00-15:30 Brussels time, the ICN Merger Working Group will host a teleseminar and webinar, TOOLS FOR CHANGE. Participants will present brief case studies on the role the ICN and its resources have played in helping member agencies and their governments enact changes to their merger […]

  This weekend the Academy Awards will be presented in Hollywood. Since the categories do not include a best antitrust film, the ICN Blog would like to draw your attention to some of the good (and entertaining) awareness and outreach work agencies are accomplishing via film and videos. For our first nomination, see the Netherlands Competition […]

  A number of ICN members recently issued guidelines, drafts for comments, or other initiatives. We invite you to share information about activities in your jurisdiction, by sending an e-mail to icn@ftc.gov. Japan: On October 28, 2009, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) published its Guidelines for Exclusionary Private Monopolization under the Antimonopoly Act. The guidelines set […]