Independence of competition authorities - from designs to practices

Paris, 1/12/16 - The 2016 OECD Global Forum on Competition discussed "Independence of competition authorities - from designs to practices" during its third session. Competition authority independence from political power is a key element for the effective enforcement of competition law. This issue has been increasingly important in the debate about the design of a competition authority and it can have several dimensions: structural independence from government, operational/decision-making independence, organisational independence and financial independence.

The discussion focused on the notion of independence of competition enforcers from political interferences in their enforcement activity and will not address the equally important principle that competition authorities should be independent of business interests to avoid the risk of capture. Some of the issues that were discussed are: Can the government decide which cases the authority should and should not investigate? How are the resources managed? Do competition authorities have decision-making autonomy? What are the main existing challenges in terms of legal and de facto independence of your competition authority?

Prof. Michal Gal (Haifa University, Israel) and Prof. Allan Fels AO (University of Melbourne, Monash & Oxford) presented and interacted with participants during this discussion.

Read the Background paper by the Secretariat • Note de référence du Secrétariat

Download the 2016 Forum Agenda English • Français

Global Forum website • Full list of Competition Policy Roundtables

GLOBAL FORUM SESSION DOCUMENTATION

KEY DOCUMENTS

Background paper by the Secretariat

Call for contributions

Summary of contribtutions

DOCUMENTATION CLÉ EN FRANÇAIS

Appel à contributions

Note de référence par le Secrátariat

Note par Michal GAL