News
YARS 2025 issues published
We are excited to share that the new issue of YARS vol. 18(31), edited by Agata Jurkowska-Gomułka and 18(32) edited by Magdalena and Marek Porzeżyńscy, has just been published. The issue addresses the regulatory and competition law challenges linked to data sharing.
See the YARS 18(31) and the YARS 18(32)
Guest lecture: Ordoliberalism, Neoliberalism, and Beyond: Toward a Human-Centred Digital Economy (dr Anselm Küsters)
The Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies is pleased to invite you to a guest lecture by Dr Anselm Küsters, LL.M., who is currently serving as Interim Professor of Digital Humanities at the University of Stuttgart, as well as Head of the Digitalization Department at the Centre for European Policy (cep) in Berlin. The lecture will be delivered in English.
The lecture will take place on 19 February at 6:00 p.m. in Room B109 at the Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw (1/3 Szturmowa Street, 02-678 Warsaw). The lecture is open to the public.
Abstract:
This lecture offers a wide-ranging intellectual journey through the evolution of European competition law, from its ordoliberal roots to its neoliberal reinterpretations and today’s unresolved tensions. Drawing on original research using Natural Language Processing methods, Dr Anselm Küsters reveals how ordoliberal concepts once shaped the language and practice of EU competition policy and how their meaning gradually shifted over time. Building on this historical analysis, the lecture then turns toward the future, presenting digital decentralization—developed in the forthcoming book Small is beautiful 2.0—as a promising framework for rethinking competition and digital regulation. By connecting conceptual history with concrete policy perspectives, the lecture invites the audience to rethink how platform economies and artificial intelligence might be governed in a way that places human agency, fairness, and democratic values back at the center of economic life.
The event is held under the patronage of the Civic Development Forum Foundation.
SAVE THE DATE! Conference: “The Regulation of Markets in Defence of Democratic Principles” 19-20 March 2026
We are excited to invite you to the conference: “The Regulation of Markets in Defence of Democratic Principles”, organised on 19-20 March 2026
Digital technologies now shape almost every aspect of our social and economic life, raising fundamental questions about the future of democracy, information pluralism, and market fairness. The dominance of large technology platforms and the growing role of algorithms create new challenges - for law, public policy, and democratic debate alike.
ASCOLA Central Europe Chapter webinar “De-oligarchisation Laws”
The ASCOLA Central Europe Chapter invites you to our upcoming webinar: “De-oligarchisation Laws”
Date: Monday, 1 December 2025
Time: 10:00 – 12:00 CET
Location: Online (Google Meet)
Registration form: https://lnkd.in/dgKsT2NB
Join us for a discussion on the working paper by Cristina Teleki (Maastricht University) titled “Competition Law as Justice – The Advent of the De-Oligarchisation Laws in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.”
The event, organised jointly by the ASCOLA Central Europe Chapter and the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (The Faculty of Management of the University of Warsaw), will feature comments by Maciej Bernatt (University of Warsaw) and Kati Cseres (University of Amsterdam), followed by an open Q&A.
A timely conversation on how competition law intertwines with justice and governance reforms in post-transition democracies.
Event poster
Important new publications by CARS academic collaborators
Welcome Dr Simbarashe Tavuyanago and Benedetta Cipriano
It is our pleasure to welcome Dr Simbarashe Tavuyanago and Benedetta Cipriano to the University of Warsaw, who have joined the research team working on the project “Competition Law Through Constitutional Lenses: Integrating Socio-Economic and Environmental Values in a Time of Just Transition.”
The project examines the role of constitutional values in shaping national competition laws through a comparative analysis of constitutional court case-law, judicial review of competition authority decisions, and detailed case studies. We focus on Italy and Poland as EU Member States whose competition regimes were designed in alignment with EU law, and we contrast them with the socio-economic framework developed in South African constitutional and competition law.
Thanks to the involvement of Simbarashe and Benedetta, our team can expand the comparative dimension of the research to include South Africa and Italy. We are delighted to have you both on board!
The project is funded by the NCN National Science Centre under the SONATA BIS programme.
Joint webinar by ASCOLA’s Germany & Central Europe Chapters: Competition Law Enforcement in Digital Markets in Poland and Germany
We are pleased to invite you to a joint webinar hosted by the ASCOLA Germany and Central Europe Chapters on 15 October 2025, 15:30-17:00 (CET). The event will explore recent developments in competition law enforcement in digital markets in Poland and Germany.
Programme highlights:
Joanna Mazur (University of Warsaw), Empirical research on the enforcement of the DMA
Antoni Napieralski (Polish Competition Authority & University of Warsaw), DMA implementation in Poland and recent abuse of dominance cases in the digital sector
Philipp Hornung (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), German-specific aspects of competition law enforcement in digital markets
Silke Heinz (Heinz & Zagrosek), Developments in the application of Section 19a GWB, extending control over abusive practices by digital companies
Following the presentations, we will host an interactive discussion with the audience, moderated by Thomas Weck, Eckart Bueren, Maciej Bernatt, and Miłosz Malaga.
📅 Date: 15 October 2025
🕒 Time: 15:30–17:00 CET
📍 Platform: Zoom
🔗 Join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84822622777?pwd=uDZ7jFgZ8JJtGiNOwUDnKpvMnyMGSc.1
New CARS Working Papers
See the new CARS Working Papers here!
Publication of a new book Data Sharing Regulation in Europe edited by Professor Maciej Bernatt and Dr. Laura Zoboli
We are pleased to announce the publication of a new book edited by Professor Maciej Bernatt and Dr. Laura Zoboli, entitled Data Sharing Regulation in Europe, published by Routledge (2025): https://www.routledge.com/Data-Sharing-Regulation-in-Europe/Bernatt-Zoboli/p/book/9781032163710
This publication is the result of research conducted under a project funded by the Polish National Science Centre: “Business-to-business data sharing within the EU digital market” (OPUS 2018/31/B/HS5/01192, carried out in the years 2019–2021).
More information about the project is available here:
https://cars.wz.uw.edu.pl/pl/badania-i-ekspertyzy/projekty-badawcze/40-9-wymiana-danych-pomiedzy-przedsiebiorcami-w-ramach-jednolitego-rynku-cyfrowego-ue-2019-2021-grant-narodowego-centrum-nauki-konkurs-opus-2018-31-b-hs5-01192.html
Conference report: "Building Competition Institutions for Sustainable Growth. A Retrospective on the Role of Competition Law and Policy in Central and Eastern Europe 20 years after EU Enlargement and Lessons for the Future"
On 27 May, the University of Warsaw hosted the high-level conference “Building Competition Institutions for Sustainable Growth”, marking two decades since the EU’s 2004 enlargement. The event brought together academics, policy experts, and senior enforcement officials to reflect on the development of competition law and institutions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and to examine the challenges ahead.
Key discussions addressed the integration of sustainability into competition policy, the evolving interplay between market forces and state intervention, and the institutional resilience of National Competition Authorities (NCAs). Participants engaged critically with the Draghi Report and its implications for EU strategic autonomy, with views ranging from optimism about institutional reform to concerns about regulatory overreach and geopolitical dependency.
A keynote by Inge Bernaerts (DG COMP) emphasised the constitutional underpinnings of EU competition policy and reaffirmed the importance of NCA independence, including fixed mandates and budgetary safeguards. She also highlighted the EU’s broader conception of consumer welfare, noting that while competition policy can create conditions for innovation, it cannot compel it.
Discussions on the food value chain revealed the increasing relevance of competition authorities in addressing concentration and unfair trading practices, especially under the UTP Directive. Throughout the panels, a recurring theme was the need for a careful balance between legal principles, economic analysis, and public policy goals—ensuring that competition enforcement remains both effective and forward-looking in a rapidly changing environment.
See the conference report for more details!
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Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies,
University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management
PL - 02-678 Warsaw, 1/3 Szturmowa St.
website: www.cars.wz.uw.edu.pl (cars English site)