Competition: Commission signs EU co-operation agreement with India

On 21 November, European Commission Vice President Joaquín Almunia and India Competition Commission Chairman Ashok Chawla signed in New Delhi a Memorandum of Understanding to increase co-operation between the European Commission's competition department and the Competition Commission of India.

Almunia said: “The Memorandum of Understanding is an important step and a sign of our commitment to further deepen our already excellent relations with the Competition Commission of India. It will give new impetus to our co-operation with India in the enforcement of our respective competition laws."

The Memorandum of Understanding creates a dedicated framework to further strengthen cooperation between the European Commission and the Competition Commission of India in the area of competition law enforcement. Under the new framework, the parties may engage in discussions on competition legislation, share non-confidential information on legislation, enforcement, multilateral competition initiatives and advocacy, and engage in technical cooperation regarding competition legislation and enforcement.

The Memorandum of Understanding also provides that one authority may request the other to carry out enforcement activities, if one believes that anti-competitive actions are being carried out in the territory of the other. Likewise, the Memorandum of Understanding provides a mechanism to avoid conflicts if one authority's enforcement activity may affect the other in its own enforcement activity.

The Memorandum of Understanding sends a positive signal for intensified co-operation on competition matters between the EU and India.

Background

The signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding are the Competition Directorate-General of the European Commission and the Competition Commission of India.

India's Competition Act entered into force in 2007, which is also the year when the enforcement authority, the Competition Commission of India, became operational.

The European Commission enforces competition rules for the European Union as a whole, notably for the review of mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (defined in Article 1 of the EU Merger Regulation, in force since 1990) and the fight against cartels and abuses of dominant market positions (respectively Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union - TFEU).

The Commission has cooperation agreements with competition authorities of many countries outside the EU. With some of them, the cooperation is based on bilateral agreements dedicated entirely to competition. In other cases, competition provisions are included as part of wider general agreements such as free trade agreements, partnership and cooperation agreements, association agreements, etc.

For an overview of co-operation agreements with third countries, click here.

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