Foreign cooperation of the Competition Authority
The Competition Authority participates in international cooperation within its remit. It participates in Nordic cooperation, European cooperation and also in wider international cooperation.
International cooperation consists of participation in meetings of committees and groups that deal with competition matters and rules, and project work in working groups that address specific aspects of competition policy. The aim of the international cooperation is to strengthen the links between competition authorities with a view to increasing the knowledge of those working on competition matters, as well as to examine and respond to competition issues in specific markets.
The Competition Authority takes part in the projects that are most important for its operations.
The competition authorities of Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland cooperate regularly with each other.
At the regular meetings of the Nordic competition authorities, competition matters are discussed on a general basis, including changes to laws and regulations, and individual cases, decisions and judgments of general relevance. Furthermore, the operation of the competition authorities, case handling and performance are also discussed.
Working groups are active in specific areas, and annually, working groups have also worked on specific projects, publishing the results of their work in reports issued by the Nordic competition authorities. Examples of such reports include the report on Competition and Economic Crises. (2009) , a report on competition policy and sustainable economic growth (2010) and a report on vision and competition – competition policy up to 2020 (2013) .
There is currently a cooperation agreement in force between Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden on cooperation in competition matters. The original the contract between Denmark, Iceland and Norway was signed in 2001 but Supplementary agreement It was signed in 2003, with Sweden among the signatories.
The Nordic supervisors then signed New agreement 2017 and it is also available in Icelandic.
The Competition Authority participates, on the one hand, in cooperation under the EEA Agreement and, on the other hand, in the cooperation of European competition authorities.
Cooperation based on the EEA Agreement
Meetings of the EU Competition and Mergers Advisory Committees are held by the European Commission (EU Competition Advisory Committee / EU Mergers Advisory Committee), and the Competition Authority has an observer at these meetings. Similar meetings are held in the ESA's advisory committees, and the Competition Authority has full membership on those committees.
The Competition Authority participates in the European Competition Network (ECN), which involves cooperation between the competition authorities of the EU Member States, EFTA, ESA and the Commission. The aim of this cooperation is to review individual competition cases currently under consideration by the competition authorities of the EU, EFTA, ESA and the Commission, as well as general policy-making in the field of competition law. To this end, numerous working groups have been established to address specific areas of competition law. These include, for example, a working group on the abuse of a dominant position, a working group on merger matters, a working group on energy issues, and a working group on the telecommunications market.
The Competition Authority participates in meetings of the EFTA Working Group on Competition. This group examines all new EU competition law legislation and assesses whether it should be part of the EEA Agreement and, if so, whether the new legislation needs to be adapted to the EEA Agreement (http://www.efta.int/).
The directors of competition authorities are invited to a meeting once a year by the European Commission. The Competition Authority has attended these meetings.
Cooperation between the EU and EFTA competition authorities
This is an informal cooperation which, among other things, reviews the implementation of competition rules and policymaking. Working groups have been established to examine individual competition markets or specific issues. Within this cooperation, there are working groups on competition matters such as the merger working group, the energy working group, the media working group, the settlement of claims working group, etc.
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The Competition Authority's participation in international cooperation is twofold.
- ICN (International Competition Network) is an international association of competition authorities. Meetings are held regularly, in addition to separate meetings held by working groups on various competition issues. The Competition Authority is a member of this collaboration.
Link on ICN guidelines that promote an effective process for competition authorities.
- The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) discusses competition issues in special committees and working groups. The OECD also reviews the state of competition in individual member countries.