Co-operation between the Swiss Competition authorities and other Competition authorities concerning concentration activities Presented by Dr. Patrick Krauskopf Vice-director of the Secretariat of the Competition Commission

Structure of the panel I.Introduction II.Existing legal basis for co-operation on competition matters III.Necessity of enhanced formal co- operation between Switzerland and its trading partners IV.Concluding remarks

I.Introduction A.Tasks and aims of the Swiss competition authorities B.Specific features of Switzerland The geographical location The Swiss economy in comparison to the world economy Big companies located in Switzerland

A.Task and aims of the competition authorities The Competition Commission (Comco)The Competition Commission (Comco) –Takes decisions –Addresses recommendations and reports –Renders opinions

Figure 1 : Growth of headquarters transfers to Switzerland ( ) Figure 2 : Transfers of global headquarters by country of origin in %

Figure 3: Overall productivity and productivity index : GDP (US $) per person employed and productivity index (2001)

II.Existing legal basis for co-operation on competition matters A.No specific agreement on co-operation on concentration activities with other authorities B.OECD Recommendations 1)Recommendation on co-operation between antitrust authorities 2)Recommendation on co-operation against hard-core cartels C.Bilateral agreement on air transport between Switzerland and EU

B.OECD Recommendations 1)Recommendation on co-operation between antitrust authorities 1986, revised in 1995 basic tools for co-operation: notification of cases, exchange of information, co-ordination of action, consultation, conciliation Non-binding 2)Recommendation on co-operation against hard-core cartels 1998 Particular forms of co-operation: positive comity, document sharing… Non-binding

C.Bilateral agreement on air Transport Between the EU and Switzerland 06/01/2002 Reciprocal liberalization of air traffic rights EU competition rules are also applied in Switzerland by the EU Commission. Switzerland remains competent concerning state aids. Cooperation for enforcement and procedural measures.

III.Necessity of enhanced co-operation between the Switzerland and its trading partners (EU/US/D/F) A.Economical context: an increasing globalized economy B.Swiss cases of recent concentration activities with international dimensions C.Report

A.Economical context: an increasing globalized economy Liberalization of the economy Increasing inter-dependence between the different countries Competition on a worldwide scale Growth rate of international cross-border company mergers Necessity of co-operation

B.Swiss cases of recent concentration activities with international dimensions Ernst&Young / Arthur Andersen BP/E.On IBM/PwC Consulting GE/Honeywell

C.Report 1)Co-operation is highly effective but insufficiently ruled out –Lack of certainty for the parties –Lack of certainty for the authorities –Foreclosure effects in the world market 2)Remedies: a)Bilateral contacts: General: exchange of staff and experience Case by case: intensive co-operation on the basis of waivers b)Unilateral measures: procedural simplification for international mergers with insignificant effects on the Swiss market

IV.Concluding remarks Existing practices are still unsatisfactory Need to set forth a formal legal framework in the form of bi- or multilateral co-operation agreements with the following objectives: –Provide better knowledge of the different competition policies –Promote a convergent approach towards methodical issues –Reduce burdens on merging parties –Reduce the inefficiencies of overlapping investigations