13th – 14th December 2021
The 4th EU-India Competition Week took place online on 13 and 14 December 2021. The Competition Week gathered officials from the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition (DG Competition) and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to strengthen their dialogue on competition policy. Officials from the Italian and French national competition authorities also joined the meeting.
The two-day series of discussions covered a wide range of topics, including competition enforcement and regulation challenges in digital markets, as well as in the pharmaceutical sector. The technical exchanges gave the European and Indian officials the opportunity to discuss their practical experience and share good practices on case handling and enforcement in competition policy.
The 4th EU-India Competition Week showcased the commitment of DG Competition and the CCI to strengthen their cooperation and technical exchanges on competition policy and law. The fourth EU-India Competition Week follows the inaugural Competition Week organised in 2018 and the ones organised in 2019 and 2020 and builds on the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of competition law signed between DG Competition and the Competition Commission of India on 21 November 2013, to deepen relations and strengthen cooperation between the two agencies. The MoU sets out the framework for discussion on competition legislation, sharing of non-confidential information on legislation and enforcement and technical cooperation.
EU-India Competition Weeks take place annually. The next EU-India Competition Week is scheduled for December 2022.
AGENDA
Monday 13 December 2021
Competition enforcement and regulation in digital markets – practical challenges and where next?
09:45-10:00: Registration / Virtual room opens
10:05-10:30: Opening remarks
- Mr Ashok Kumar GUPTA, Chairman, CCI
- Mr Seppo NURMI, Deputy Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union to India and Bhutan, New Delhi
10:30-13:00: Competition enforcement and regulatory alternatives in digital markets – practical challenges and how to proceed
Overview:
- Recent antitrust interventions in digital markets – experiences and issues raised – including enforcement challenges e.g. defining relevant market; determining what to focus on; evidence to focus on and managing the complexity and volume of data involved; analysis of theories of harm – e.g. using classic and “creative” theories of harm; designing remedies – going beyond “classic” remedies?; use of procedural tools to move more quickly?
- Recent regulatory and policy initiatives and priorities to tackle the concerns raised by the potentially anti-competitive practices of digital “gatekeepers”;
- Interaction (complementarity or conflict?) between an ex-ante regulatory regime and “classic” antitrust enforcement;
- Issues surrounding the notion of “gatekeeper”;
- Appropriate remedies for ex ante regulation in digital markets (e.g., “blacklisted practices”, case-by-case remedies) versus experiences with remedies in antitrust enforcement and merger review in digital markets;
- Institutional implementation of ex-ante regulation in digital markets?
Presentations by
- Mr Alvaro GARCIA-DELGADO GARCIA, Digital Task Force, Antitrust Case Support and Policy, European Commission
- Ms Jyoti JINDGAR BHANOT, Adviser, and Mr Sachin GOYAL, Joint Director, Competition Commission of India
- Ms Pascale DÉCHAMPS, Rapporteur Général Adjoint, Head of Unit for Antitrust Matters in the Digital and Telecom Sectors, French Competition Authority
Discussion and Q&A session
Tuesday 14 December 2021
Competition law and enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector
08:45-09:00: Registration / Virtual room opens
09:00-11:45: Competition law and enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector
Overview
Competition law and enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector
Overview:
- Specific features of the pharmaceutical sector;
- Competition concerns and case experiences with e.g., abuses of dominance and pricing issues, pay-for-delay, cartels and restrictive vertical agreements such as clauses prohibiting manufacturers from promoting and selling products from competing manufacturers, other distribution concerns, competition from generic pharmaceuticals etc.;
- Findings from the DG Competition (2019) and CCI (2021) reports into competition in the pharmaceutical sector;
- Supporting pro-competitive cooperation – e.g., on R&D, other initiatives/proposals;
- Merger control specifics in the pharmaceutical sector.
Presentations by:
- Ms Claudia DESOGUS, Italian Competition Authority
- Ms Gabriele VENSKAITYTE, Antitrust: Pharma and Health Services, DG Competition, European Commission
- Ms Sayanti CHAKRABARTI, Director in the Economics Division, Competition Commission of India
Discussion and Q&A session
11:45 – 12:00: Closing remarks
Dr Sanjay Pandey, Adviser (Law), Competition Commission of India
Mr Torben TOFT, Senior Expert, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
SPEAKERS
Michel Dupond
Veolia
PRESENTATIONS
Please note that information provided in the presentations below is the personal opinion of the resource person and CCI is not responsible for any discrepancy or omission
Day 1 - 09 December 2019
Day 2 - 10 December 2019
Day 3 - 11 December 2019