The President of UOKiK took part in a meeting of the network of European Competition Authorities (ECA), which was organized by the Portuguese antitrust authority Autoridade da Concorrência on 9-10 March in Lisbon.

ECA meetings serve to discuss, exchange views and best practices at the highest level on current antitrust topics.

During the panel discussion, Tomasz Chróstny spoke with a representative of the European Commission and the heads of the competition authorities of Spain, the Netherlands and Lithuania about the importance of competition in the labor market and the role of antitrust authorities in this market. Together, they sought answers to the questions of whether competition authorities are effective in countering anti-competitive behavior, such as no-poach  and wage-fixing agreements, and what kind of advocacy initiatives are most effective here.

Another panel discussion held during the two-day ECA meeting focused on the role of competition authorities in digital markets, the challenges involved, and how to use existing tools to ensure competition in these markets. They also considered how to guarantee coherence and effectiveness in the enforcement of regulatory solutions and competition rules in digital markets.

The heads of the EU and EFTA competition authorities also discussed competition protection - priorities, advocacy and enforcement - in the context of inflation. While competition policy does not aim to address surging inflation in the short term, it can still have a positive impact in contributing to revert the current inflationary trend. The panel discussion attempted to answer the question of how competition agencies' priorities, advocacy and enforcement efforts can contribute to combat inflation, and considered whether current public measures designed to address the negative effects of inflation are adequate and sufficient from a competition perspective.

The European Competition Authorities network was established in Amsterdam in April 2001 as a discussion forum for competition authorities in Europe (EU and EFTA). The purpose of the ECA's existence is to improve cooperation between competition authorities and contribute to more effective enforcement of competition laws. Among other things, cooperation between the Authorities is developed through regular meetings, the establishment of working groups and the exchange of information between experts and practitioners from the Authorities.