India, EU To Enhance Cooperation In Resolving Competition Issues.

India and the European Union have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase cooperation between the European Commission's competition department and the Competition Commission of India.

The agreement was signed in the Indian capital city of New Delhi on Thursday by European Commission Vice President Joaquin Almunia, and Ashok Chawla, the Chairman of the Competition Commission of India.

"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 cooperation with India in the enforcement of our respective competition laws," Almunia said after signing the document.

The MoU 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 MoU 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. It also provides a mechanism to avoid conflicts if one authority's enforcement activity may affect the other in its own enforcement activity.

According to an EU press release, the Memorandum of Understanding sends a positive signal for intensified cooperation on competition matters between India and the EU.

Notably, 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.

On the other hand, 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 and the fight against cartels and abuses of dominant market positions.

The European 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 as well as association agreements.

Source : rttnews.com