St. Martin's Conference 2025: introducing topics and opening registration

The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as "the Office") invites experts and others interested in competition law to the 18th annual St. Martin's Conference, which will take place on 5-6 November 2025 in Brno. This traditional conference is intended primarily for lawyers, economists, representatives of public administration, the academic community, and other experts working in the field of competition and significant market power.

The first conference day will begin with an introductory speech by Petr Mlsna, Chairman of the Office, followed by a topical panel discussion entitled What's New in Competition Law and Policy, in which representatives of national competition authorities traditionally informs about current developments in their countries.  This year's panel will feature Kamil Nejezchleb, Vice-Chairman of the Office, Juraj Beňa, Chairman of the Slovak Competition Authority, Ana Sofia Rodrigues (Portuguese Competition Authority), and Assimakis Komninos (White & Case LLP), who will summarize developments at the European Union level. The morning session will conclude with a panel on ecosystem competition, whose participants will reflect on the functioning of platforms and multilateral markets, particularly in the digital sphere. Giuseppe Colangelo (University of Basilicata), Jan Dobrý (Clifford Chance), Tomáš Houška (AlixPartners) and Martin Machay, the new chief economist of the Office, will speak on this topic.

The afternoon session of the first day will open with a special lecture by Bogdan Chiritoiu, Chairman of the Romanian Competition Authority on the topic of "Competition Policy on the Edge". Mr. Chiritoiu will reflect on whether the traditional approach to competition protection is capable of responding to global economic changes and the new needs and directions of European countries. This will be followed by a presentation of the European Commission's revised merger guidelines by Terézia Ovečka from DG COMP. The final panel of the first day, devoted to the topic of the standard of proof in light of recent case law, will be led by Igor Pospíšil, director of the Office’s Cartels department, together with Marcela Káňová (ROWAN LEGAL) and other experts.

The second conference day will begin with a panel discussion on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on cooperation between enforcement authorities in combating unfair commercial practices in the context of significant market power. Speakers will include Petr Solský (ÚOHS), Daniel Janda (Volopich, Tomšíček & spol.) and Barbara Jeannot (Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung).

The final part of the agenda consists of three parallel workshops. The first one will focus on undertakings’ possibility to cooperate with competition authority in relation to the amount of penalty, the second on the use of commitments as a competition policy tool, and the third on issues related to services connected with the purchase and sale of agricultural and food products. Experts from the Office and representatives of the legal and business communities will participate in the discussion, including Ivana Halamová Dobíšková (Allen Overy Shearman Sterling), Lenka Štiková Gachová (HAVEL & PARTNERS), Richard Maliniak (Nedelka Kubáč advokáti), and Jaromír Klouda (Czech Meat Processors Association).

 

Agenda and registration

 

Pres Unit of the Office
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