BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE
SOFIA COMPETITION FORUM
12TH NOVEMBER 2012
BUNDESWETTBEWERBSBEHÖRDE
Advocacy as a tool for voluntary
compliance
 Goal: maximize voluntary compliance with competition
law
UK Study 2011 on deterrence identified three key pillars of
compliance that are closely interlinked and support
each other:
 knowledge and awareness of competition law,
 sanctions and enforcement, and
 voluntary compliance measures
In Austria distinguish two types of actions:
 prevent infringements to happen
 stop already existing infringements
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 Traditional tools for advocacy (inter alia):
1. Successful enforcement – track record (do well and
talk about it!)
UK study shows that tools and sanctions are important
drivers of compliance. Most important are fines to the
company, reputational damage to the company and
criminal sanctions
→ need effective enforcement tools to ensure compliance
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2. Explaining/promoting the aims and scope of the laws;
Especially small and medium undertakings often lack
precise knowledge, do not have a compliance officer
etc.
3. Input in the legislative process
4. Interact successfully with the courts
5. Relations with regulatory bodies in specific sectors
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Further…
Try to show the business community the choices/advantages
competition offers!
“competition policies in countries with economies in transition and in
developing countries have been adopted in an environment where
economic activity was formerly fairly concentrated, mostly as a
result of past government policies and intervention. For this
reason, these laws might be seen as instruments for speeding
up the process of change in which economic activity is in
principle defined by private ownership and market forces
rather than by State ownership and control”
(Khemani, 1996)
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 Essential prerequisite for the institutional development process:
political support for the agencies
 If there is no political agreement to support competition principles
and defend the necessary independence of competition agencies,
the regulatory framework risks being taken over by the very
undertakings to which it applies and the agencies’ advocacy
function is severely hampered
 Example: Austrian ongoing legislative debate on the new
Competition Act: an uphill battle!
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Examples of further promoting voluntary compliance in Austria:
- Informative Website (twitter)
Summary of decisions by the cartel Court
Enforcement record
latest developments (e.g. conducted dawn raids in private houses!)
- Competition Journal
- Competition lunches (new!):
small audience, open and more detailed discussion, less
organizational effort
- Conferences
- Speeches
- Leavelet
Problems:
 Lack of understanding by the political players
 Fierce lobbying by business community
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Thank you for your attention!
www.bwb.gv.at
Twitter: BWB_WETTBEWERB