The International Competition Network at Twenty: Origins, Accomplishments and Aspirations

The International Competition Network (ICN) is a unique phenomenon. As a virtual and informal network of competition enforcement agencies from around the world, it has in less than two decades become the single most authoritative platform in the field of international competition law and policy. Currently uniting more than 140 competition authorities from developed and developing countries, the ICN has made significant contributions to the harmonization and converge once of procedural and substantive competition law and policy in the area of cartels, unilateral conduct and mergers. Moreover, the ICN has stimulated competition authorities to streamline procedures, pay due attention to procedural fairness guarantees for parties under investigation and to build up agency capacity, resources and knowledge to review and assess potentially anti-competitive conduct in addition to collaborating more effectively across jurisdictions on enforcement and policy. In doing so, the activities of the ICN are of direct importance to consumers worldwide.

As a successor to The International Competition Network at Ten, a collection of commentaries that was published at the occasion of the ICN's tenth anniversary in 2011, this publication again brings together a number of essays written by leading competition agency officials, private sector lawyers and academics on the accomplishments and aspirations of the ICN at the end of its second decade.

The essays included in this book provide insights into the origins of the ICN, cover the activities that the network has embarked upon during the past decade, explore its accomplishments and the future directions that the organization will embark upon in a challenging but exciting time that is witnessing a resurgence of popular interest in competition law, including an almost global backlash against parts of the tech industry and attempts to accommodate sustainability considerations, labor law issues and other public interest policies within competition law and, more recently, some dramatic geopolitical frictions. The authors and editors of this International Competition Law at Twenty book have sought to contribute to the history of the ICN through this collection at the dawn of the organization's third decade.

Paul Lugard is a Brussels-based EU and international competition lawyer. His practice focuses on complex merger review proceedings and investigations into alleged anticompetitive business practices. He has counselled some of the world's leading companies on strategic cooperation agreements, platform competition, distribution agreements and technology licensing agreements. His areas of experience include the application of the antitrust laws to high technology sectors, including R&D, standardization, patent pools and licensing of standard essential patents and distribution agreements in the energy sector and. Mr. Lugard has assisted clients in oil and gas, LNG, human and animal health, consumer electronics, fast moving consumer goods, medical imaging, telecommunications and in various online industries. Mr. Lugard was a senior vice president and the Head of Antitrust at Royal Philips Electronics from 2005 until 2012. Mr. Lugard is active in the development of international competition policy. He is the Chair of the ICC Competition Commission and serves as a European Commission Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network (ICN) and as Vice Chair of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD.

Dave is a partner in BCLP's Antitrust & Competition Law team and is the Managing Partner of the firm's Brussels office. He is a US, UK and Belgian national and is qualified to practice in the US, Belgium (A-List), UK and Ireland. Dave has practiced in London and Brussels in the international competition field for over 20 years. His practice focuses on EU and international aspects of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, restrictive practices, cartels and abuses of dominant positions. He also advises on EU regulatory law, public affairs strategies and Brexit issues. Dave is also very active on the policy side of international antitrust. He serves as a non-governmental adviser to the European Commission on the work of the International Competition Network (ICN) and he has also advised the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and national competition agencies on competition law reform and agency capacity building in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America.

Andreas Mundt has been President of the German Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) since December 2009. In September 2013 Andreas Mundt was elected to be the new Steering Group Chair of the International Competition Network. Since 2010 he has been a Member of the Bureau of the OECD Competition Committee. After qualifying as a lawyer following studies at the University of Bonn and the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Andreas Mundt entered the Federal Ministry of Economics where he worked from 1991 to 1993. He then joined the staff of the Free Democratic Party in the German Parliament from 1993 to 2000, where he was in charge of the portfolio of labour and social law. In 2000 Andreas Mundt joined the Bundeskartellamt as rapporteur, with responsibility for banking and card payment systems issues. He was Head of the International Section of the Bundeskartellamt from 2001 to 2005 and Director of General Policy from 2005 to 2009.