• A meeting of heads of EU competition authorities was held in Athens.
• The energy crisis, rising food prices and changes in digital markets — these and other issues were discussed during the meeting

On 28 June 2022, another meeting of heads of EU competition protection authorities was held in Athens under the chairmanship of the EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager. These regular meetings are dedicated to discussing the most relevant topics in the field of competition protection and exchanging information and experience between national authorities and the European Commission.

At this year's meeting, President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny discussed such issues as the energy crisis and the possible role of competition policy in this area with his counterparts from the other EU Member States. The heads of the antitrust authorities also discussed the actions taken in relation to digital markets, as well as the changes that will arise due to the adoption of the Digital Markets Act. Further, they touched upon the changes being made in the area of merger control, which is aimed at simplifying procedures, and discussed aspects of possible future cooperation between national competition authorities.

On the occasion of the meeting, the Greek antitrust authority also held the "Athena Forum" conference, which brought together representatives of the European Commission, competition protection authorities, as well as academics and experts from around the world. The event programme covered current issues in the field of competition protection, including:

• Food price hikes, global food value chains and the resilience of the global food system: implications for competition law enforcement,
• The global regulation of digital ecosystems: ex ante v. ex post approaches/institutional architecture implications,
• Macroeconomic conditions, macroeconomic tools and competition law: developing a “macro” perspective for competition law enforcement?
• Greening Competition Law: Competition Law Enforcement, Climate Change and Sustainability,
• The Limits of Collusion in Competition Law: Invitations to Collude, Price Signaling, Algorithmic Collusion.

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