DG COMP is one of the leading anti-cartel enforcement agencies in the world and an established key player in the activities of the ICN Cartel Working Group.
The mandate of the ICN Cartel Working Group (CWG) is to address the challenges of anti-cartel enforcement, including the prevention, detection, investigation and punishment of cartel conduct, both domestically and internationally. At the heart of antitrust enforcement is the battle against hard-core cartels directed at price fixing, bid rigging, market allocation and output restriction.
The aim of the international cooperation of antitrust agencies and practitioners is to improve anti-cartel enforcement activities and advance education and information sharing worldwide:
- The CWG participates actively in the ICN Annual Conferences and organises a yearly Cartel Workshop. In these meetings, public enforcers and representatives from non-governmental organisations exchange views on the most relevant procedural, legal and practical issues.
- The CWG holds webinars and produces papers in order to develop good practices and to increase the awareness of new and developing competition agencies concerning the significance of the fight against hard core cartels.
In the 2019-2020 work year, the CWG is co-chaired by the French Competition Authority, the Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE) Brazil and the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service of Russia (FAS).
- Subgroup 1: Legal Framework (‘SG1’) is co-chaired by the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) and the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA).
- Subgroup 2: Enforcement Techniques (‘SG2’) is co-chaired by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) and the Chilean Fiscalia Nacional Economica.
