Global Competition Review takes great pleasure in announcing a major international conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the EU Merger Regulation to be held at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Brussels.

Following the opening address from Joaquín Almunia, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner in charge of Competition, current and former enforcers will come together with competition law specialists from the EU, the USA and China to celebrate the ECMR's achievements and legacy worldwide and look at the developments in international merger policy.

Distinguished speakers will provide delegates with a thorough update on recent developments, legislation and cases and assess the challenges that lie ahead.

• Opening Address Commissioner Joaquin Alumunia, Vice-President, European Commission

Senior enforcers and antitrust specialists from industry and private practice include:

• James S.Venit, Partner, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP
• Professor Mario Monti, President, Bocconi University, Milan; former Competition Commissioner, European Commission
• William E. Kovacic, Member, Federal Trade Commission
• Philip Lowe, Director-General of the Energy DG; former Director-General Competition, European Commission
• Deborah Platt Majoras, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary, The Procter & Gamble Company
• Götz Drauz, Partner, Howrey LLP
• Lars-Hendrik Röller , President, ESMT
• Bo Vesterdorf, Consultant, Plesner and Herbert Smith LLP; former Judge and President, CFI
• Sir Christopher Bellamy QC, Consultant, Linklaters LLP
• Ian Forrester QC, Partner, White & Case LLP
• Andrea Lofaro, Partner, RBB Economics
• John Davies, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
• John Fingleton, Chief Executive, Office of Fair Trading
• Nadia Calvino, Deputy Director-General, DG Competition,European Commission
• Rachel Brandenburger, Special Adviser, International, US Department of Justice
• Bruno Lasserre, President, Autorité de la Concurrence
• Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition, Canada's Competition Bureau
• Andreas Mundt, President, Bundeskartellamt
• Miao Sun, The Anti-Monopoly Bureau, Ministry of Commerce, The People's Republic of China
• Olavo Chinaglia, Commissioner, Brazilian Council for Economic Defense – CADE
• Kaushal Kumar Sharma, Adviser (Law), Competition Commission, India
• Alec Burnside, Partner, Linklaters LLP
• Thomas Vinje, Partner, Clifford Chance LLP
• Damien Neven, Chief Economist, DG Competition
• Amelia Fletcher, Senior Director, Mergers and Chief Economist, Office of Fair Trading
• Kaarli Eichhorn, Vice President and Senior Competition Counsel, General Electric Company
• William J. Kolasky, Partner, WilmerHale LLP
• Cristina Caffarra, Vice President, Charles River Associates
• Jean-Yves Art, Professor, College of Europe, Bruges
• Nicholas Levy, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
• Michael N. Sohn, Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
• Jorge Padilla, Managing Director, LECG
• Janet McDavid, Partner, Hogan Lovells US LLP
• John Boyce, Partner, Slaughter and May 
• Nadine Mouy, Head of Mergers Service, Autorité de la Concurrence

DAY ONE

Morning chairman: James S. Venit

Partner, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP

08.30 Registration and coffee

09.00 Chairman’s Opening Remarks

09.05 Keynote Address

Joaquín Almunia

Commissioner for Competition Policy and Vice-President, European Commission

09.30 Setting the Scene: EU Merger Control – 20 Years of Practice

A panel of current and former regulators discuss key past developments and look to the future

Professor Mario Monti, President, Bocconi University, former Commissioner for Competition, European Commission

Philip Lowe, Director General of the Energy DG, European Commission, Former Director General, DG Competition

William E. Kovacic, Member, Federal Trade Commission

Deborah Platt Majoras, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary, The Procter & Gamble Company

Götz Drauz, Partner, Howrey LLP, former Deputy Director General, DG Competition

Lars-Hendrik Röller, President, ESMT, former Chief Economist, DG Competition, European Commission

11.00 Coffee

11.30 The Judicial Perspective

• Standard of review

• Deference and scope of review involving complex economic assessments

Bo Vesterdorf, Counsel, Herbert Smith LLP, former President of the European Court of First Instance (CFI)

Sir Christopher Bellamy QC, Senior Consultant, Linklaters LLP, former Judge at the Court of First Instance and former President, Competition Appeals Tribunal

Ian Forrester QC, Partner, White & Case LLP

Andrea Lofaro, Director, RBB Economics

12.45 Lunch

14.15 International Cooperation and Convergence

Chairman: John Fingleton, Chief Executive, Office of Fair Trading

• Priorities of the European Competition Network: convergence and divergence

• Priorities of the International Competition Network: convergence and divergence

• Understanding the role of the OECD

• The changing role of the substantive test for merger control as economies develop

• Competition advocacy towards governments and other stakeholders

Rachel C. Brandenburger, Special Adviser, International, US Department Of Justice

Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition, Canada's Competition Bureau

Alexander Italianer, Director General, DG Competition (TBC)

Bruno Lasserre, President, Autorité de la Concurrence

Andreas Mundt, President, Bundeskartellamt

15.45 Tea

16.15 The Challenges for BRIC Countries

Chairman: John Davies, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

• Merger enforcement priorities for the next three years

• How to regulate multi-jurisdictional mergers?

• Procedural, timing and staffing challenges

• Role of government and independence of agencies

With the participation of a Senior Representative of the Anti-Monopoly Bureau, MOFCOM, plus representatives from Brazil and India

17.20 Close of day one

18.00 Drinks reception

DAY TWO

09.00 Coffee

09.10 Chairman’s Opening Remarks

09.30 Horizontal Mergers – A Comparative Look at the US, EU and Elsewhere

Chairman: Thomas Vinje, Partner, Clifford Chance LLP

• The substantive test

• What has been the impact? Have fewer mergers been cleared?

• Is it working?

• Do market shares still matter? Does market definition matter? Is dominance dead?

• Unilateral effects: Is the standard clear enough?

• How close is close enough?

• Mavericks: Too subjective, too speculative a concept?

• Coordinated effects: Missing in action?

• Standards for economic evidence

• Is there a gap with the US?

• What is the likely impact of the [draft] US horizontal merger guidelines?

Damien Neven, Chief Economist, DG Competition, European Commission

Rachel C. Brandenburger, Special Adviser, International, US Department of Justice

William E. Kovacic, Member, Federal Trade Commission

Amelia Fletcher, Chief Economist, Office of Fair Trading

William Kolasky, Partner, Wilmer Hale Dorr LLP

Kaarli Eichhorn, Vice President and Senior Competition Counsel, General Electric Company

Cristina Caffarra, Vice-President, Charles River Associates

11.00 Coffee

11.30 Non-Horizontal Mergers

Chairman: Jean-Yves Art, Professor, College of Europe, Bruges

A look at the past and where we can improve

• From Tetra Laval/Sidel to TomTom/Tele Atlas – Did the EC become too lenient?

• Efficiencies to dominance vs leveraging to dominance – same or different assessment?

• Non-horizontal mergers in converging industries – How to balance competition and technical / economic progress?

Nicholas Levy, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Ronan P. Harty, Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Jorge Padilla, Managing Director, LECG

12.30 Q&A

12.45 Lunch

14.15 Remedies/Settlements in the International Context

Chairman: Alec Burnside, Partner, Linklaters LLP

• Multiple filings, multiple remedies? Achieving consistency

• Aligning the procedures; scope for liaison among agencies?

• Formal remedies and informal commitments

• Structural versus behavioural

• Access remedies

Janet L. McDavid, Partner, Hogan Lovells US LLP

John Boyce, Partner, Slaughter and May

Nadine Mouy, Head of Mergers Service, Autorité de la Concurrence

John Davies, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

16.00 Tea and close of conference