The OECD SG will give his opening remarks, a Keynote video address will be given by Jean Tirole and Mr Frederic Jenny will introduce the agenda.

The current policy debate criticising the activities of competition authorities is broad and wide ranging from questioning the inadequacy of the consumer welfare standard, to concerns about the current merger control standards. Competition authorities face questions about the effectiveness of their activities and whether competition maybe skewed, favouring large firms to the detriment of smaller ones or certain economic classes of the population over others. Considerations of industrial policy, and public interest objectives, also enter into the debate of whether competition as we know it is still relevant. This session will address the growing scepticism of competition, examining and responding to the broad criticisms which antitrust policy has been subject to in recent times. The panel will also look at the role that competition policy could play when pursuing such broader interests; the enforcement standard that agencies could apply; and, if competition should have any role in promoting industrial policy objectives and reduction of inequalities in modern societies.The session will be led by a panel of experts from different policy areas to debate the question and discuss with delegates in an interactive Q&A format. Documentation: http://oe.cd/cunf

The majority of trade agreements include a competition policy chapter or individual competition provisions. These cover a range of issues, such as the adoption or maintenance of competition laws, international co-operation on competition policy or the introduction of procedural safeguards. This session will consider the purpose and impact of these competition provisions in practice, to discuss their usefulness in broadening and strengthening the application of competition law worldwide. In addition, the session will look at the role of competition authorities in the drafting and negotiation of competition provisions in trade agreements. Documentation: oe.cd/cpta

The modern competition dynamics observed in rapidly-evolving sectors, such as high-technology, consumer services and online retail, is challenging the role of competition authorities in merger control, where enforcement decisions fundamentally depend on an effects-based analysis of the likely future effects of the merger. This plenary session on Merger Control in Dynamic Markets will debate the relevant timeframe of merger control and to try to determine how far into the future should authorities look when assessing the effects of a merger.This session will allow participants to discuss through three breakout sessions.

Moderators will report the main findings of their break-our sessions.

Some products have characteristics that lead firms to compete to be the supplier of a whole market of product or services, rather than for market share (whether it be a share of units, of contracts or of consumer relationships). These might for example include: a) natural monopolies (with large economies of scale); b) publicly-funded monopolies (that would not be provided by markets); c) legally-protected monopolies (e.g. products protected by intellectual property rights); and d) platform monopolies (e.g. digital platforms with powerful direct or cross-platform network effects that generate increasing value from scale). This Roundtable will focus on the first of these categories, natural monopolies, and publicly-funded monopolies, particularly on the enforcement challenges that arise when concessions are offered on these services.