Brussels, 20/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commissioner responsible for Trade, Mario Monti will meet his American counterparts Charles James, Deputy Justice Minister responsible for the anti-trust division, and Timothy Muris, President of the Federal Trade Commission, in Washington on Monday 24 September. This meeting was the first to be organised at the highest level between people responsible for trade policy in the European Commission and the Bush Administration. Mr. Monti, accompanied by Alexander Schaub, Commission Director General for Trade will discuss issues of a political interest on both sides of the Atlantic with his American counterparts, in the course of the day.
The meeting coincides with the 10th anniversary of the EU/United states bilateral agreement on competition, agreement signed on 23 September 1991 which sets the framework for regular contacts, at all levels, on the subject of the control of concentrations and the implementation of legislation in the matter, as well as the fight against concerted agreements and the abuse of dominant positions. This agreement was complemented seven years later by a second so-called "active courtesy" agreement, by which one part may request of the other to take appropriate measures to counter anti-competitive conduct that finds its source in the territory of the latter but that also affects the interests of the applicant party. The Commission again welcomes this fruitful co-operation that has been sealed between the United States and the EU over the past ten years and which, it stresses, has contributed to convergence between Community and American legislation in the matter and enabled the EU to take advantage of the "great experience" of the United States in the field.
Monday's meeting will especially enable the parties to look in depth into the mutual knowledge of existing legislation on both sides of the Atlantic regarding the control of concentrations. Progress has already been made in the field of market definition and in implementing corrective measures. This cooperation should continue so as to reduce the risk of divergent decisions, especially regarding concentrations and acquisitions demanding approval on both parts, Commission sources tell us.