Marchfeld Competition Forum (MCF) is a cooperation between Middle- and East-European Competition Authorities. On 1 July 2008 the forum was founded in Schlosshof/Marchfeld (Austria) and is meeting in unsteady time lags. The general director of the Austrian Competition Authority (Theodor Thanner) and the president of the Czech Competition Authority (Martin Pecina) were the initiators of the platform. Marchfeld Competition Forum conduces to improve the cooperation and the teamwork of the national Authorities.
Contents
Duties
Duties of the National Competition Authorities are the enforcement of the national competition laws and Art. 81 and 82 of the Treaty on European Union. This means
Merger Control
Actions against Cartels (group of companies which join together to share markets and customers between them or to fix prices and limit production)
Antitrust (analyse and anticipate dominant positions of companies and the abuse of this position)
Objectives
The initiative is aimed at the strengthening of regional cooperation and coordination between national competition authorities from EU Member States as well as non-members, in particular with regard to cross-border issues of common concern.
These objectives shall be pursued by discussing topical competition-related issues in regular meetings and dealing with these issues e.g. by setting up working groups or joint training initiatives.
Members
Following national Competition Authorities are part of the Marchfeld Competition Forum:
Austria - Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde
Czech Republic - Úřad pro ochranu hospodářské soutěže
Bulgaria - Комисия за Защита на Конкуренцията
Croatia - Agencija za zastitu trzisnog natjecanja
Estonia - Konkurentsiamet
Hungary - Gazdasági Versenyhivatal
Latvia - Konkurences padome
Lithuania - Konkurencijos taryba
Poland - Urzęd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów
Romania - Consiliul Concurentei
Slovakia - Protimonopolný úrad
Slovenia - Urad Republike Slovenije za varstvo konkurence
Switzerland - Wettbewerbskommission
European Commission - Directorate-General for Competition
European Competition Network - ECN