Seminar objectives

The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) will hold a competition law training for judges in the framework of the OECD-GVH Regional Centre for Competition in Budapest (RCC) on 26-27 May 2022 in Budapest. The event will receive funding from the European Union.

The proposed seminar as entitled “Stepping up with the fundamentals of competition law: from core principles to advanced competition law enforcement” aims at assisting national judges in their task of reviewing decisions by national competition authorities and enforcing Articles 101 and 102 TFEU in competition law cases brought before them. Therefore, the seminar will provide judges with a comprehensive overview of relevant EU practice and case law with regards to fundamental concepts of EU competition law, will discuss regulatory and soft law instruments adopted by the European Commission and will focus on more complex legal issues and on practices in more complex sectors, the digital economy, to make judges aware of divergences, gaps and challenges in the enforcement of competition law and to better inform them as to how to address such issues.

The topics will be addressed and discussed in lectures by competition experts from OECD countries and in the framework of case studies presented by the participants. Practical exercises on hypothetical cases involving all participants will provide an excellent opportunity to apply the learnings of the seminar in practice. Furthermore, participants will be engaged in Q&A sessions with the experts and will be encouraged to share their experiences with one another in order to promote further cooperation and networking.

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We encourage judges who have experience in competition law to participate in the seminar. Please be informed that the seminar is open to national judges, prosecutors and apprentice national judges dealing with competition law issues in one of the EU Member States, Albania, Montenegro, Turkey, Serbia, and North Macedonia. Each applicant is kindly requested to specify their prior experience in general European competition law.

Please note that a good command of English is a precondition for registration. Participation in the seminar will be free of charge; the costs will be covered by EU and GVH funds.

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One place will be reserved for one applicant from each of the eligible countries. In case of multiple applications from the same country, candidates will be selected on the basis of a number of criteria, including the institution of the applicants, their position, the years of relevant experience and previous pertinent training.

Participants shall arrange their own travel and their travel expenses (economy class) will be reimbursed by the organizers after the seminar. The cost of local transportation (taxi, airport shuttle, public transport) and the cost of travel insurance will not be reimbursed. The organizers will take care of the reservations and cover the costs of the accommodation for 3 nights on 25, 26 and 27 May 2022. Participants will be invited to a welcome dinner on 26 May and will receive lunch on 26 and 27 May 2022.

Please be informed that a necessary precondition for reimbursement is actual participation in the entire training, which means that if someone cannot participate for any reason whatsoever, we cannot reimburse their costs.

The deadline for registration is 7 April 2022. Applicants will be informed by 20 April 2022 if their registration has been accepted.

Should you have any questions about the event, please contact Ms Miranda Molnár (molnar.miranda@gvh.hu, phone: +36-1-472-8958).

Please forward this announcement to your colleagues who may be interested in participating.

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