Brussels - Washington: Europe and the Arabs
“Through the meeting, we strengthened our cooperation on competition policy and enforcement in the field of technology,” said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for competition policy, following the EU-US Dialogue on Technology Competition Policy. “The fast-moving technology sector raises global challenges such as artificial intelligence and computing.” "It is essential to anticipate and address such challenges through close collaboration, and to leverage our experiences to the benefit of consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic."
According to a European statement in Brussels, “Executive Vice President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager, Chair of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Lina Khan, and Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Jonathan Kanter met in Washington to attend the fourth meeting of the joint dialogue between the European Union and the States.” United Nations Technology Competition Policy (“TCPD”). The purpose of the dialogue is to further enhance cooperation to ensure and promote fair competition in the digital economy.
“The growth of data monopolies and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence increase the competitive threats we face from dominant digital gatekeepers,” said Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice. “Sharing best practices with our global counterparts helps us serve the American people more effectively, and we greatly appreciate the European Commission’s continued engagement through the TCPD program.”
“As companies move at breakneck speed to build and monetize artificial intelligence and algorithmic decision-making tools, engaging with our international partners and sharing best practices will be especially critical,” said FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan. “The Joint Technology Dialogue provides the US agencies and the European Commission with a key opportunity to discuss emerging threats in the rapidly evolving digital economy.”
The dialogue focused on: (1) rapidly evolving technologies in the digital sector, such as artificial intelligence and the cloud, (2) ensuring that merger enforcement takes into account the realities of the modern digital economy, (3) how to better consider the evolving market dynamics of the digital sector, in particular Related to technology platforms.
The three authorities agreed on the importance of continuing their close cooperation within the framework of the TCPD to ensure fair competition in the technology sector. The TCPD will continue to hold high-level meetings, as well as regular discussions at a more technical level.
On 15 June 2021, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden launched the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC). The TTC serves as a forum for the United States and the European Union to coordinate approaches to key global trade, economic, and technological issues and to deepen transatlantic trade and economic relations based on shared democratic values.
On 7 December 2021, the Commission, the US Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice launched the TCPD programme, which focuses on developing joint approaches and strengthening cooperation on competition policy and enforcement in the technology sector. The second meeting of the Technical and Coordination Committee was held on October 13, 2022 and the third on March 30, 2023.
The Commission, the US Federal Trade Commission, and the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice have a long-standing tradition of close cooperation on antitrust enforcement and policy. This cooperation began even before the formal agreement was concluded in 1991 between the Commission of the European Communities and the Government of the United States of America on the application of their competition laws, which was subsequently supplemented by the 1998 Agreement on the application of the principles of positive comity in the enforcement of competition laws. Their competition laws. In 2011, the three agencies reaffirmed their strong commitment to this collaborative and mutually beneficial relationship by adopting joint best practices on merger cooperation.