The ASCOLA November Online Event Live!
We held the 1st ASCOLA NOEL on 20 November 2023, on the eve of 20th birthday of ASCOLA. In a 90 minutes session, we first looked back with Josef Drexl, the founding president of ASCOLA. He shared the initial story of ASCOLA that was inspired by Hanns Ullrich and Roger Zäch and remembered the time when globalisation still held a promise for the whole world. Times have changed, but as Josef said we should never let the conversation stop so as to overcome the clashes.
After that we had Roundtable with excellent speakers who gave an overview of the developments in competition law in their jurisdiction. The speakers were:
- Prof. Eleanor Fox (New York University)
- Prof. Magali Eben (Glasgow University)
- Prof. Mor Bakhoum (Université virtuelle du Sénégal)
- Prof. Juan David Gutiérrez (Universidad de los Andes)
- Prof. Soojin Nam (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies)
- Prof. Vlatka Butorac Malnar (University of Rijeka)
Giorgio Monti (Tilburg University) was the moderator. When he finally asked the speakers what they would put on their wishlist (with a view to Noel…), this is what they said: Mor Bakhoum asked for more cooperation and transnational debate. Soojin Nam wants a due process reform. Eleanor Fox wishes for the US to start to look who wins and who loses from markets and from enforcement and to turn to those who persistently lose. Vlatka Butorac Malnar wants a recognition of competition policy as an important element of the economy. Magali Eben (who stepped in at short notice for Heike Schweitzer) would love to see clearer theories of harm. Juan David Gutiérrez finally requested changing governments to build on their agencies – it is easy, he said, to destroy a functioning agency, but it is hard to build one.
A video recording will be made available on YouTube soon.
The next ASCOLA NOEL will be held in November 2024!
