The participants international seminar on vertical restraints co-organised by UOKiK and the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (CARS) – Poland’s leading academic centre for competition law – debated the big issue of how to assess vertical agreements, comparing the experiences of individual countries in this regard. The meeting gathered experts from the European Commission, heads of competition agencies from the Netherlands and Lithuania, distinguished representatives of the academia and practitioners.

By definition vertical agreements are entered into by businesses located at different levels of the supply chain (e.g. producer-distributor) as opposed to agreements concluded between competitors.

Competition authorities today need to work out the answers to a number of crucial questions, such as: when to intervene? How to assess the effects vertical agreements have on competition? What are the positive and negative effects for the market? This hot topic was discussed at the international seminar co-organised by the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) and the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (CARS), Warsaw University. The meeting was attended by experts from the European Commission, competition agencies from EU member states, distinguished representatives of the academia as well as practitioners.

Vertical cooperation between companies can produce efficiencies and innovation which are pro- rather than anti-competitive, but they can also restrict competition and reduce consumer welfare. Economic analysis is essential to tell such cases apart, said UOKiK’s President, Adam Jasser, in his opening speech.

Introductory remarks on vertical restraints were offered by professor William E. Kovacic, former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commision, and Guillaume Loriot, director at the DG Competition, European Commission. Professor Kovacić emphasised the role of the Polish competition authority in the development of competition law in emerging economies in early 1990’s. He also challenged the traditional division between vertical and horizontal agreements, pointing out the strong interconnections between the two. He noted that effective compliance programmes for businesses must be based on proactive monitoring of potential irregularities. Guillaume Loriot, on the other hand, pointed out that advancements in new technologies may intensify conclusion of vertical agreements. In this context, the role of competition law is to make sure consumers are to benefit from and not pay for developments in e-commerce.

The seminar consisted of two panels. The first panel was dedicated to the topic of competition authorities’ interventions in cases of vertical restraints and was chaired by professor Anna Fornalczyk, the first President of the Polish Antimonopoly Office. The speakers included the heads of the Dutch and Lithuanian competition agencies: Chris Fonteijn and Sarunas Keserauskas, Luc Peeperkorn (Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission), professor Carsten Becker (Bundeskartellsamt, Germany), and Craig Conrath (Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice). The participants agreed that vertical restraints should be analysed case by case, and competition authorities should dispose of clear criteria for assessing such agreements.

The second panel was dedicated to vertical restraints in the e-commerce sector. The discussion between Thomas Kramler (Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission), Jose Rivas, visiting professor of competition and state aids law at the College of Europe (Natolin, Warsaw) and professor Ioannis Lianos from the University College London was moderated by Nikodem Szadkowski, Deputy Director of UOKiK’s Department of Market Analyses.

A video recording of the seminar will soon become available on UOKiK’s  website.

• Presentation - Thomas Kramler (447.97 KB, pdf, 2015.10.15)
• Presentation - Anna Fornalczyk (128.16 KB, pdf, 2015.10.15)
• Presentation - Professor William E. Kovacic (384.92 KB, pdf, 2015.10.13)
• Presentation - Professor Ioannis Lianos (144.95 KB, pdf, 2015.10.15)