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Competition Policy

International Competition Network (ICN)

As one of the founding members, the Commission is proud to be part of the International Competition Network (ICN). The ICN provides competition agencies from all over the globe with a dedicated network for addressing competition enforcement and policy issues of common concern. It facilitates procedural and substantive convergence in antitrust enforcement and merger control .

ICN 2023 Annual Conference took place on 18 – October 2023. Recordings from the sessions can be found on the conference website.

Working groups

There are five substantive working groups in the ICN, addressing advocacy, agency effectiveness, cartels (see also the page ICN Cartel Working Group), mergers and unilateral conduct.  Working Group members confer primarily via conference calls and e-mails, and hold periodic teleseminars and workshops. Working Groups organize panel and small group discussions at the ICN Annual Conference conference and present work products for adoption.

Call for interest International Competition Network – Non- Governmental Advisors (ICN-NGAs) 2023 – 2024 - CLOSED

ICN members work closely with a number of non-governmental advisors ("ICN-NGAs"), including private practitioners, academics, representatives of international professional organizations and industry and consumer groups. This close cooperation results in ICN work products that benefit from the input of a wider spectrum of perspectives.

DG Competition wishes to cooperate closely with a balanced range of ICN-NGAs in order to ensure that the contributions to the respective working groups' work products is of a high quality and based on the experience of a wide range of relevant stakeholders.

Therefore, like other ICN members, the European Commission can select a number of ICN-NGAs. To be selected as an ICN-NGA requires demonstration of relevant expertise in competition policy and a strong commitment to contribute actively to the work of the ICN. More particularly, the selected ICN-NGAs will be expected to contribute actively, alongside the European Commission, to the drafting of and revision of specific Working Group products as well as participating in seminars, webinars and workshops. The annual Work Plans for each Working Group can be found on the ICN website.

For the next ICN year, DG Competition will be co-chairing the ICN Merger Working Group (MWG) with Norway, Canada and Mauritius Competition Authorities.

The European Commission is interested in building a broad and balanced network of ICN-NGAs that includes private practitioners, economists and representatives of the academic world, the judiciary, consumer groups and business organisations. If you would like to become an ICN-NGA in support of the European Commission, please contact DG Competition, using the following mailbox: COMP-ICNatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (COMP-ICN[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu). The call for interest will be open until 13 November 2023 (close of business).

Candidate ICN-NGAs are requested to specify the ICN Working Group(s) in which they wish to become involved and the reasons why they consider that they would be able to provide value added to the group(s) indicated. When the workload of the different ICN Working Groups so requires, the European Commission may request the ICN-NGAs to also contribute to the work products of ICN Working Groups for which the ICN-NGAs did not originally express a preference.

Please note that ICN activities are carried out in English and that neither the ICN nor the European Commission provides for any remuneration for the NGAs’ involvement.

The European Commission will review all applications received and select an adequate and balanced number of ICN-NGAs. All applicants will be informed of the outcome of the selection process.

In selecting the ICN-NGAs, DG COMP will give weight to the following criteria:

  • The candidate has to be an EU national;
  • The candidate has to have at least 5 years of relevant experience;
  • The candidate’s expertise (e.g. through publications) must match the annual working plan of the working groups for which the candidate would be selected and the European Commission‘s broader ICN work;
  • The candidate has to show a firm commitment to play an active role in the ICN events to which the candidate is invited to participate and in the working groups for which the candidate would be selected, in support of the European Commission; When acting as an ICN-NGA for the EU, the candidate must not go against the fundamental values and the general interest of the EU as expressed in the Treaties;
  • The candidate should be able to speak and interact in English in front of an audience;
  • The candidate must not be acting as an NGA for any other competition agency.

The selected ICN-NGAs will be appointed for one ICN year. The European Commission reserves the right to withdraw the appointment of any selected ICN-NGA, at any moment, in case of manifest inactivity, insufficient robust contribution to the work of the ICN or no longer fulfilling any of the above criteria.

ICN-NGAs who have been selected by the European Commission may also be invited to participate in the ICN's Annual Conference and in the ICN Workshops.

With regards to the 2024 Annual Conference, the European Commission will, in due time, consult the ICN-NGAs selected pursuant to this call for an expression of interest. Considering the limited number of available places, the European Commission may not be able to honour all requests. A selection will be made based on the demonstrated level of involvement in all ICN activities in support of the European Commission throughout the ICN year. All applicants will be informed of the outcome of the selection process.