Brussels, 26/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - The International Competition Network (ICN) will be holding its first conference on 28-29 September in Naples. Commissioner Mario Monti and Director General for Competition, Philip Lowe will be attending. This new instrument for international competition co-operation was created on 25 October 2001 on the initiative of 14 anti-monopoly authorities, including DG Competition at the European Union and now can count 70 representative members in all five continents. The ICN will function in a "virtual" manner, thus avoiding bureaucratic red-tape and seeks to deepen multilateral dialogue in the arena of competition and create stronger links between national anti-trust agencies, while collaborating fully with international organisations such as the WTO, OECD and UNCED. It does not aim to elaborate binding rules or sanction members that do not conform to agreements. Partners can put pressure on the authority that fails to follow common positions. "The intention was not to create a world-wide competition agency", commented an official from DG Competition. Future meetings will allow for an exchange in good practices between the anti-trust authorities in developing countries and those in developing countries which don't have any experience in this area and whose means are rather limited. The ICN base-group in Naples in charge of procedures linked to merger operations will be presenting document proposals for members to adopt and which will establish the main guidelines for recommended practices in merger deal proceedings. Participants will discuss national differences regarding merger examination proceedings and make comparisons. The next ICN meeting will take place in 2003 in Mexico.