The Cooperatition Incubator

The 9th Annual Conference of the International Competition Network (ICN) received a paper by the Turkish Competition Authority on the Interface between Competition Policy and other Public Policies.  Key points of note:

Pg 34- “European Commission mentions that the impact assessments, by listing all the policy options according to certain criteria such as effectiveness and efficiency together with their positive and negative impacts, enable the policy makers to consider trade-offs between economic, social and environmental impacts. However, it is emphasised that an impact assessment supports and does not replace decision-making – the adoption of a policy proposal is always a political decision.”

Pg 37-8 – “In the EU, DG Competition may use its advocacy powers within the European Commission during the work of an “impact assessment steering group” or in the course of a subsequent interservice consultation to verify whether competition assessment for the policy proposal, which should be part of a comprehensive impact assessment, is conducted and whether the proposal does not restrict competition disproportionately. During the process, DG Competition may propose amendments to the relevant proposal to alleviate competitive concerns. Moreover, it is compulsory to consult DG Competition by way of an inter-service consultation in case a policy proposal prepared by another DG may impact on competition. It should be said that although a negative opinion expressed by DG Competition may not block a policy proposal, it can put significant pressure on the relevant DG to amend the proposal.”

Source : http://www.icn-istanbul.org/Upload/Materials/SpecialProject/SP_BackgroundReport.pdf