On 30 May 2023 CARS co-organised a conference entitled "Antitrust Private Enforcement: Lessons for Poland" with Bird&Bird law firm.
Conferences and seminars
A workshop meeting on judicial review of decisions of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, with particular emphasis on evidentiary issues, organised by the Discussion Forum of Practitioners of Competition and Consumer Law (Forum) and the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies of the Warsaw University (CARS) was held on 14 March 2023.
As part of the workshop, in the first part, Prof. Marek Kolasinski (UMK, Soltysiński, Kawecki & Szlęzak) and Prof. Maciej Bernatt, Ph.D., UW (CARS) spoke. This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by mec. Krzysztof Kanton (Sołtysiński, Kawecki & Szlęzak) and attended by Dr Małgorzata Kozak (Utrecht University), Dr Dominik Wolski (GWSH), mec. Robert Gago (Greenberg Traurig), Dr Joanna Mazur (CARS) and former President of the UOKIK Adam Jasser (CARS).
The speakers and panellists paid particular attention to the issues of:
- the practice of judicial review of the UOKIK President's decisions and their functional environment,
- analysis of the case law from 2004-2021,
- comparison of solutions functioning in the Polish system with the EU standards,
- the specifics of proceedings concerning digital markets.
The workshop "Role of Competition Law in Economic Transitions" took place on 6 June 2024, 10:00 am - 18:30 pm CET at the University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, Szturmowa 1/3, Warszawa, room C-105.
This workshop was organised to foster a discussion on the role of competition law in navigating economic transitions. By examining the transformation journeys of Central-Eastern European (CEE) countries and various countries of the Global South (e.g., South Africa, Colombia), our aim was to elucidate the interplay between the values of competition and non-economic values protected by national constitutions. These discussions aimed to endeavor to evaluate the role of competition law and the institutions tasked with its enforcement in shaping economic orders. Of particular interest was an exploration into whether the manner competition law has been enforced facilitates or hinders inclusive and sustainable economic transformation. The overall aim of the workshop was to reflect on how to build a coherent competition law framework that not only advances the economic goals of a society but also promotes the foundational non-economic values upon which it is built.
Recording of the entire workshop
On 28 February 2023, a seminar entitled 'Nothing happens by itself? On the role of the state and platforms in regulating the digital economy on the example of Uber' co-organised with the Sociology of Politics, Economy and Education Group of the Institute of Philosophy of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The event consisted of a discussion around the text by Dr. Joanna Mazur and Dr. Marcin Serafin titled "The State. 'Stalling the State: How Digital Platforms Contribute to and Profit From Delays in the Enforcement and Adoption of Regulations' (2023) Comparative Political Studies, 56(1), 101-130 free access. Dr Mateusz Grochowski, Dr Dominika Polkowska and Prof Szymon Wróbel participated in the discussion.
On 17 January 2023, a seminar entitled 'Study on the case-law of Polish courts in competition cases from 2004 to 2021: a quantitative and qualitative approach' was held, co-organised by CARS and the Department of European Economic Law of the WPIA of the University of Łódź.
On 6 June 2023, an online workshop on the application of empirical research in legal sciences was held (jointly with ASCOLA Central Europe Chapter) with Joanna Mazur (UW), Yane Svetiev (Sydney University), Massimiliano Nuccio (Ca' Foscari University of Venice).
On 16-17 November an international conference Power, media pluralism, and democracy. Regulatory, legal, or extra-legal responses will be held in Warsaw co-organised with Modern Bigness and Law & Tech network Utrecht University School of Law.
This conference will focus on legal or regulatory responses to the challenges media landscape is facing, particularly concerning market diversity and political independence. These might include why the (current) legal regime may fall short and whether solutions should also be found outside the law. Thus, non-legal scholars, for example, from platform studies or media studies, are welcomed. The focal point is the European Union and its member states, and the aim is to contribute to robust and open democracies based on the rule of law. Comparative perspectives are welcome too.
On 14 and 15 September 2023 in Warsaw an international conference was held as part of the "Business-to-Business Data Sharing within the EU Digital Market" project conducted at CARS under the OPUS grant funded by the National Science Center (2018/31/B/HS5/01192).
The conference aimed to develop the debate on the legal and regulatory challenges and opportunities related to the provision of B2B data within the EU digital market. In line with the mission of the Jean Monnet Network on enforcement of EU law (EULEN), the impact of the evolution of the EU regulatory framework in the field of digital and data technologies (DMA, DSA, DGA, Data Act) and the resulting law enforcement mechanisms were discussed. The organizers asked the question of how to make the most of the potential of the European Union's key digital resource.
The conference was attended by, among others: Sharon Sandeen (Mitchell Hamline School of Law), Marco Botta (EUI), Björn Lundqvist (Stockholm University), Lillà Montagnani (Bocconi University), Oles Andriychuk (Newcastle University School of Law) and people from CARS: Maciej Bernatt, Laura Zoboli, Joanna Mazur, Monika Woźniak-Cichuta. The event gathered approximately 50 people from academic and business backgrounds.
Presentations of the speakers
Lola Montero Santos, EUI, Can the EU Regulation of B2B Data-Sharing Achieve its Desired Goals?
We also encourage you to read the reports related to the OPUS project.
1. First report on Categorization of data and actors involved in data sharing operations
2. Second report on B2B non-personal data sharing in EU legal framework
3. Report on EU Data Spaces
4. Competition law
5. IP law
On 14 June 2023 ASCOLA Central Europe Chapter, ASCOLA South East Europe and ASCOLA Eastern Europe (Baltics) jointly held a webinar “JUDICIAL REVIEW OF COMPETITION CASES: THE CEE AND SEE COUNTRIES PERSPECTIVES”. Judge Krystyna Kowalik-Bańczyk delivered a key-note speech.
The seminar "The Rule of Law and the Internal Market of the EU/EEA" was held at the Faculty of Management of the University of Warsaw on 19 May 2023.
On 8 April 2022 CARS organised a seminar "EU economic law after the Sped-Pro judgement" together with the Department of European Law at the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. More info can be found here.
On 22 February 2022, with the ASCOLA CEE and SEE Chapters we organised a webinar: Roundtable on Methodologies and Strategies for Publishing in Competition Law. The participants included Amber Darr, University of Manchester, Sandra Marco Colino, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jasper P. Sluijs, Utrecht University, Laura Zoboli, University of Warsaw.
On 30 March we organsied seminar on the challenges for private enforcement in competition law organised by Dr Dominik Wolski. Speakers included Caroline Cauffman, Jurgita Malinauskaite, Sebastian Peyer, Małgorzata Kozak, Marta Mackiewicz, Michał Markiewicz, Aleksander Stawicki, Marcin Trepka.
Private Antitrust Enforcement – Mapping Challenges, 30 March 2022 - Agenda
Introduction
14.00-14.05 – Introductory remarks by Prof. Maciej Bernatt, CARS Director, University of Warsaw
14.05-14.15- Introduction to the seminar and private enforcement CARS project by Dr Dominik Wolski, CARS, Katowice Business University
Session 1 – 14.15-15.05 (Dr Dominik Wolski – moderator)
- Dr Małgorzata Kozak, Utrecht University - Private Enforcement of Competition Law - A Need for Effective Implementation of Directive 2014/104 – 15’
- Jurgita Malinauskaite, Brunel University, London – The challenges of Private Antitrust Enforcement in the Baltic states: proving causation and quantifying damages – 15’
Q&A – 20’
Session 2 – 15.05-16.10 (Dr Anna Laszczyk, Linklaters – moderator)
- Dr Michał Markiewicz, Jagiellonian University, Markiewicz & Sroczyński – Passing-on in competition damages cases - 15’
- Dr Caroline Cauffman, Maastricht University - Liability for antitrust damages: what goes up must come down? – 15’
- Sebastian Peyer, University of East Anglia – Competition litigation funding – 15’
Q&A – 20’
Session 3 – 16.10-17.15 (Dr Tomasz Bagdziński, Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection – moderator)
- Dr Marta Mackiewicz, Maruta Wachta – Limitation period in private antitrust enforcement – 15’
- Aleksander Stawicki, WKB Lawyers – Is private enforcement of competition law a good investment (in Poland)? Practitioner perspective – 15’
- Marcin Trepka, Baker McKenzie – Proving the violation of competition law causing the damage - how far does the private claimant's access to the files of the competition case extend? - 15’
Q&A – 20’
Closing remarks
17.15-17.20 – Dr Dominik Wolski
On 29 March 2022 we held a seminar Populism and Antitrust - The Role of the ECN+ Directive, co-organised with the European University Institute in Florence. During the seminar, Maciej Bernatt presented his new book Populism and Antitrust: Illiberal Influence of Populist Governments on Competition Law System, published by Cambridge University Press. The discussion included Eleanor Fox, Pier Luigi Parcu, Federico Ghezzi, Giorgio Monti, Anna Vernet, Šarūnas Keserauskas, Henri Piffaut, Szabolcs Szendro and Natalie Harsdorf-Borsch.
On 16 March 2022, we organised another workshop on best practices in publishing as part of our collaboration with ASCOLA Chapters; this time we spoke with representative(s) of the editorial boards of the Common Market Law Review, Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies, Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy, Utrecht Law Review and Journal of Antitrust Enforcement.
The Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (CARS) of the Faculty of Management of the University of Warsaw, jointly with Bocconi University in the framework of the Jean Monnet Network of Enforcement of EU Law (EULEN), is organising an international conference ‘EU Competition Law Enforcement: Challenges to Be Overcome’. The event will be held in Warsaw (Poland) on 26-27 May 2022.
On December 6-7, 2021 the CARS Climate and Energy Laboratory organised a scientific conference entitled Energy sector challenges in the era of energy transformation and the COVID - 19 pandemic.
On 21 October 2021 the academic seminar entitled "The Legal Development of Offshore Wind Farms in the Baltic, Asia and the Pacific Ocean”, organised by the UW CARS Climate and Energy Laboratory took place.
On 31 August 2021 the University of Szeged, the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies of University of Warsaw, and the ASCOLA Central Europe Chapter jointly organised an international online conference on the history of competition law in the comparative context.
Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies and the UOKiK (Polish Competition Authority) organized on 2 March 2021 a joint conference: Implementation of ECN+ Directive in Poland - towards a more effective application of competition law? Almost 3,100 people from Poland, the USA, Germany, UK, the Netherlands, Austria and Ecuador registered and watched the conference.
We kindly invite you to read and watch the conference materials.
On 19 October 2020, CARS hosted a roundtable to discuss the results of the first year of the research project on "Business to Business Data Sharing in the EU Digital Market" (Opus 2018/31/B/HS5/01192). After a presentation of the results by the research team, the external experts Wojciech Biernacki, Maciej Janik and Iga Małobęcka-Szwast provided valuable comments for the development of the project. Monika Wozniak and Janek Duthel also participated in the meeting.
Please join the webinar series on EU competition law. We will discuss transanational enforcement (9 Oct), ECN+ (22 Oct), and enforcement by courts (9 Nov). The webinars are organized in frame of the Jean Monnet Network on Enforcement of EU Law (EULEN). Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies of University of Warsaw (CARS) together with Bocconi University are responsible for competition law part of the project. See the program.
The Ascola Central Europe Chapter (coordinated by Maciej Bernatt) together with CARS organised a series of webinars to discuss with expert practitioners and NCA representatives the latest developments in competition law in Central Europe and the upcoming challenges to an effective protection of competition in the region after the Covid-19 economic crisis. See the program.
Invitation
Executive Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 30th March 2011 on the block exemption for vertical restraintsThe aim of the conference was to discuss the question of whether and how weakening of constitutional safeguards, in particular the protection of fundamental rights and institutional independence, impact the authority of EU and national economic law and its enforcement in the Member States. More specifically, the conference aimed to examine whether and how national legislations have been disrupting the effective enforcement of economic law in horizontal and sector specific areas, how objectives of economic patriotism have been implemented in national law and how economic policy agendas have potentially contradicted those of market integration. The issues discussed extended beyond substantive law; developments concerning institutional changes affecting the agencies responsible for enforcement of economic law and challenging the independence of the judiciary, were also examined together with the EU’s reactions to these changes.
CARS and law firm CMS organised a conference on latest developments in merger control on May 7, 2019. Representatives of DG Comp from Brussels, academics and practitioners discussed a range of hot topics such as public interest in merger control following the Siemens-Alstom case, the role of economic analysis in merger prohibitions and gun-jumping. The conference was attended by ca 80 participants.
The conference aimed at discussing the place for judicial deference in the area of law that requires expert knowledge and involves policy questions: competition law. The discussion included the theoretical and axiological aspects of judicial deference in administrative law, the place for judicial deference to competition authority’s economic assessment and determinations regarding fines as well as the link between the institutional and the procedural organisation of the proceedings before the competition authority and the intensity of judicial review. The conference was organised in frame of the research project ‘The Limits of Judicial Assessment in Competition Law’ funded by the Polish National Science Centre (UMO-2014/15/D/HS5/01562).
The conference on “European Electronic Communications Code – Implementation in the Polish Law “ took place on 24th June 2019. The conference was organized by the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (CARS) Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw and Centre for Legal and Economic Problems of Electronic Communications (CBKE), University of Wrocław. The conference brought together over 100 participants representing main telecommunications companies, economic chambers of telecommunications sector, legal firms, television broadcasters and scientific institutions dealing with electronic communications. Among the participants of the meeting were the representatives of Ministry of Digital Affairs, Office of Electronic Communications, Office of Competition and Consumer Protection and Office of the National Broadcasting Council.
The impact on economy of hub airports operation and infrastructure development (Poznań, 6-7.09.2018)
The conference was organised by Poznań University of Economics and Business and Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies, Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw within the COST Air Transport and Regional Development (ATARD) Programme.
The topic of the conference was related to the central airport for Poland to be built in the next five years and to the shutting down of Warsaw Airport, which is close to its capacity limits. The conference was a contribution to the discussion on hub airports in Central and Eastern Europe and their impact on regional development
Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (CARS), Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw has partnered with Leon Koźmiński Academy on the organization of Nationwide Conference European Union and Aviation Law Challenges. The aim of the conference was to discuss most topical legal issues in civil aviation. CARS Civil Aviation Laboratory members have actively taken part in the conference as speakers and moderators.
Seminar PresentationsOn 29-30 June 2017 2nd International Conference on the Harmonisation of Private Antitrust Enforcement: A Central and Eastern European Perspective organized by the Law Faculty of the University of Białystok and CARS took place in Supraśl. It was devoted to the effects of the implementation of the so-called Damages Directive (2014/104/EU) in Central and Eastern European countries. The preliminary plan of the organisers is that the 3. conference in the series shall take place in 2019 or 2020.
The conference “Competition protection in times of challenges” - 70th Anniversary of Professor Tadeusz Skoczny, CARS Director, was held at the Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw on 27 October 2017, which was organised to celebrate the 70th birthday of Professor Skoczny. During the ceremony such personalities as prof. dr. Alojzy Nowak (Dean of the Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw), prof. Anna Fornalczyk (the President of the Antimonopoly Office 1990-1995), prof. dr. Stanisław Piątek (CARS Deputy Director), dr. Maciej Bernatt, prof. dr. Agata Jurkowska-Gomułka and others had a pleasure to present the work and achievements of Professor Skoczny.
