Kroes lanceert met nationale mededingingsautoriteiten website 'Europees Concurrentie Netwerk' (en)

The European Competition Network - the European Commission together with the national competition authorities in the EU - has launched a website providing businesses, their advisors, and citizens with information about antitrust enforcement, annual reports and background documents about the Network. The ECN website will inter alia provide one-stop access to news releases from all the national competition authorities, plus the Commission.

The European Competition Network (ECN), is the forum where EU Member States' competition authorities and the European Commission cooperate with each other as regards the application of competition rules on restrictive business practices and abuses of dominant positions, in accordance with Regulation 1/2003 (see IP/04/411, IP/04/511). This Regulation made it compulsory as of 1st May 2004 for national competition authorities (NCAs) to apply Article 81 of the EC Treaty where they apply national competition law to agreements or concerted practices which may affect trade between EU Member States, and to apply Article 82 of the EC Treaty where they apply national competition law to any abuse prohibited by Article 82. Furthermore, Regulation 1/2003 foresees mechanisms of close co-operation between all competition authorities in the European Union. Through the ECN they exchange information on new cases and decisions, help each other with investigations and discuss issues of common interest.

The existence of the ECN allows the exchange of best practices and ensures the coherent application of EU competition law in cases with a cross-border dimension where Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty apply.

Since 1 May 2004 (date of the entry into force of the Council Regulation 1/2003 modernising the application of EU antitrust rules), the members of the ECN have begun 529 antitrust investigations in cases where trade between Member States was affected. Regularly updated figures, together with other information, are now available on the ECN website. Visitors will also be able to download the most recent activity reports of each authority and access press releases, thus enjoying a one-stop access to news. A list of frequently asked questions is also available. The site is hosted on the European Commission's Competition website.

For more information see:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/antitrust/ecn/ecn_home.html