Switzerland, EU Initiate Competition Talks

According to the Swiss Federal Administration, Switzerland and the European Union (EU) have recently initiated negotiations on an agreement governing closer cooperation between their competition authorities.

The administration notes in its release that the main objective of this bilateral agreement is to facilitate implementation of cartel law provisions on both sides. Negotiations will also include the question of exchanging confidential information, the administration adds.

Commenting on the latest developments, the Swiss administration states that: “In view of the close economic ties between Switzerland and the EU, efficiently combating restrictions of cross-border competition is becoming an increasingly important issue.”

“With very few exceptions, cooperation between Switzerland, the European Commission and the competition authorities of EU member states takes place on an informal basis, and in some cases on the basis of the OECD recommendation on cooperation in the area of competition.”

It adds: “But this informal cooperation does not permit any exchange of case-related information. This gives rise to redundancies and can hamper efforts to combat cross-border competition restrictions.”

“With the aim of improving the efficiency of enforcement of competition regulations and combating cross-border restrictions of competition, Switzerland and the EU have opened negotiations on a cooperation agreement in accordance with their respective negotiation mandates. The negotiations are also to include the issue of regulating the exchange of confidential information between the competition authorities.”

Source: Tax News