The Amsterdam Center for Law and Economics (ACLE) organizes its first and festive international conference in its area of attention Competition & Regulation. The topic of the conference is

Remedies and Sanctions in Competition Policy

Economic and Legal Implications of the Tendency to Criminalize Antitrust Enforcement in the EU Member States

February 17-18, 2005
Universiteit van Amsterdam and KNAW Building
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The plenary program includes contributions by Prof. Dr. Claus-Dieter Ehlermann (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP), Prof. Dr. William Kovacic (George Washington University), Prof. Dr. Giancarlo Spagnolo (Stockholm School of Economics), Prof. Dr. Wouter Wils (European Commission), Prof. Dr. Dirk Schroeder (Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton), Prof. Dr. Bruce Lyons (University of East Anglia), Mr. Pat Massey (Director Compecon), Prof. Dr. Eleanor Fox (New York University), Mrs. Diana Guy (Deputy Chair UK Competition Commission), Mrs. Aini Proos (Deputy Director General Estonian Competition Authority), Dr. Christof Vollmer (Head of Unit BundesKartelAmt), Dr. Andreas Reindl (OECD) and Pieter Kalbfleisch LL.M. (Director General Netherlands Competition Authority).

Introduction to the Topic

There is increasing recognition of the fact that the existing remedies and sanctions for anticompetitive behaviour in the EU are not necessarily sufficient to deter parties from often lucrative restraints of trade or abuses of dominance. A review of remedies and sanctions for those in breach of competition law in Europe is under way. Apart from further increasing corporate pecuniary penalties, it explores the introduction of criminal sanctions (such as fines, professional remedies, disqualification orders and jail sentences). Antitrust enforcement in the US – which included criminal sanctions in the original Sherman Act – is studied for guidance. Installing similar penalties in Europe, however, raises fundamental issues. It requires, for example, elements of criminal law in addition to present administrative law enforcement. The trend to criminalize also has important economic and social implications. These topics are explored at this conference.

The conference is intended for legal and economic scholars in competition law and economics, as well as for practitioners in the various competition authorities, legal counsel and economic consultancy firms.

Conference  Program

The conference consists of a day long plenary program on Friday, February 18, and an associated workshop with contributed papers on Thursday, February 17 in the afternoon. Registration for these two events is separate. For the plenary Friday conference program click below.

Friday Conference - Fee

The conference fee for the Friday program is € 275 (early registration prior to January 15, 2005, after this date fees are increased by 50 euro). For academic scholars, a reduced fee of € 175 may apply.  Also, there is a limited number of places available for Ph.D. students and young scholars at the sponsored fee of € 75. For details concerning application, see the registration form.

The registration fee includes conference participation, luncheon and the Friday evening drinks and buffet. Partners and spouses are welcome at the latter event for an additional € 50.

Please note that there is a limited number of places available. Admittance will be on a first come first serve basis, so early registration is advised.

Friday Conference - Registration

To register, please complete the registration form below.

Thursday Workshop

Prior to the plenary program on Friday, on Thursday 17th February, 13.00-18.00, there is an afternoon of contributed sessions scheduled at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. The topic of the workshop is "Remedies and Sanctions in Competition Policy", which is broader than the EU criminalization topic of the plenary program on Friday. The Thursday program includes contributed papers by law and economics scholars on such issues as structural remedies (including break-ups), optimal fining, leniency, corporate v. individual corporate staff sanctions, the probability of detection of anticompetitive behavior, and private antitrust damages claims.

The full Thursday workshop program is available as a PDF download. Also, in order to facilitate discussion, the papers presented at the workshop - for so far as presently available - can be downloaded at 'Workshop Papers' below.

Thursday Workshop - Registration Now Closed

Information for Dutch participants

Dutch lawyers may receive permanent-education credits for both participation in the Thursday afternoon workshops and for participation in the Friday conference. For more information please see Besluit Aanmerken als Opleiding (Vademecum Advocatuur 2004, Wet -& Regelgeving blz. 410).

How to Get to the Conference Venue

The various conference locations are indicated on the enclosed map (pdf download). To reach the KNAW Building, please consult the following website.

ACLE Celebration Buffet

With this international conference we official 'open' our ACLE research group on Competition & Regulation. To celebrate this, the program is closed with drinks and a buffet in the beautiful restaurant 'In de Waag', Nieuwmarkt 4 in Amsterdam (invitation only).

Hotel Accomodation

Participants are to arrange their own lodging. The following is a selection of hotels in de vicinity of the conference venues.

• The Grand *****Deluxe
  Oudezijds Voorburgwal 197
  Website: www.thegrand.nl
  Phone: +31 (0)20 555 3555
  Prices from € 230
  
• Radisson SAS *****
  Rusland 17
  Website: www.radissonsas.com
  Phone: +31 (0)20 5208300
  Prices from € 180
  
• NH Doelen ****
  Nieuwe Doelenstraat 24
  Website: www.nh-hotels.com
  Phone: +31 (0)20-5540662
  Prices from € 120
  
• Le Coin ***
  Nieuwe Doelenstraat 5
  Website www.lecoin.nl
  Phone: +31 (0)20 524 6800
  Prices from € 85 (mention ACLE Conference)
  
• Arena Hotel ***
  's Gravesandestraat 51
  Website www.hotelarena.nl
  Phone: +31 (0)20 8502400
  Prices from € 90
  
• Hostel Stay OK Amsterdam Vondelpark
  Zandpad 5
  Website: www.stayokay.com
  Phone: + 31 (0)20 5898996
  Prices from € 67,50

Sponsors

Financial support from the following organizations in making this ACLE event possible, is gratefully acknowledged: Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL), Charles River Associates Ltd. (CRA), Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Stibbe.

Information for Members of the Press

The attached PDF document collects background information for members of the press. Press is welcome at the event and there will be opportunity to make photographs. Please, do give us advance notice of your intentions to visit.

ACLE Conference Organizing Committee

The organizing committee consists of: Prof. Floris Vogelaar (chair), Prof. Dr. Wim Driehuis, Dr. Kati Cseres, Dr. Maarten Pieter Schinkel, Ine Raangs and Irene Wamelink.

For further inquiries contact the ACLE Office at +31 (0)20 525 4162 or the e-mail address below.

For further information about the ACLE, see www.acle.nl.