@Echelle
The objective of @Echelle events is to address the new challenges of competition law with regard to technological innovations, new practices and the adaptation of competition policy to these new realities. Short in duration, with an informal setting largely devoted to questions and discussion, the meetings are open to everyone. They take place in the premises of the Autorité de la concurrence.
@Echelle webinar
On Monday, 30 September at 3 p.m., the Autorité de la concurrence organised a live webinar: "Generative AI: the chalenges for innovation, the economy and competition".
Benoît Cœuré, President of the Autorité de la concurrence, sat down with Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT, and Charles Gorintin, Cofounder and CTO of Alan, to discuss “Generative AI: the challenges for innovation, the economy and competition”.
The discussion was moderated by Elodie Vandenhende, Deputy Head of the Digital Economy Unit at the Autorité de la concurrence.
An opening keynote was delivered by Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Digital Agenda and Competition.
The discussion was held in English.
Watch the replay
Previous events
ICN 2024 Workshop on Competition and Sustainable Development
The first International Competition Network (ICN) workshop on “The Role of Competition in Supporting Sustainable Development Goals”, organised by the Autorité de la concurrence, was held online on 2 July 2024.
- Find out more about the event on the ICN website
- Watch the replay
On Wednesday, 13 March 2024 at 2:30 p.m., the Autorité de la concurrence organised a live webinar, “Mobility: is competition on the move?”.
The event was a follow-up to the opinion on land passenger transport published by the Autorité on 29 November 2023, which focuses in particular on the rail and contracted transport sectors.
Two round-table discussions were held to gather feedback from the main players in the sector on the analyses and recommendations presented in the opinion, in particular on the opportunities offered by the opening up to competition, and the difficulties posed by tender processes for the creation or operation of transport networks.
Find the programme below:
Our @Echelle event took place online, on Thursday, 21 December at 3 p.m.
Benoît Cœuré, President of the Autorité de la concurrence, sat down with Mattias Guyomar, senior judge at the Conseil d’Etat (French Administrative Supreme Court) and judge at the European Court of Human Rights, to discuss the consequences of European Court of Human Rights case law for the application of competition law.
Reiko Aoki, Commissioner of the Japan Fair Trade Commission, Martijn Snoep, Chairman of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets and Benoît Cœuré, President of the French Autorité de la concurrence presented their opinions and discussed international perspectives on the challenges raised by emerging technologies.
The discussion was followed by a Q&A session with the French investigation team (lawyers, economists and data scientists) who worked on the 2023 market study on competition in the cloud sector.
The debates were moderated by Elodie Vandenhende, Deputy Head of the Digital Economy Unit of the Autorité de la concurrence and were held in English.
With the European Commission having recently begun a review of Regulation 1/2003, Benoît Cœuré, President of the Autorité de la concurrence, sat down with Wouter Wils, Visiting Professor at King’s College London, Legal Advisor in the European Commission’s Legal Service and former Hearing Officer, to discuss the genesis of this seminal piece of competition law, draw initial conclusions and consider the prospects for reform.
The discussion was held in French.
On Monday, 5 December 2022, the Autorité welcomed Martijn Snoep, Chairman of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). Benoît Cœuré, President of the Autorité de la concurrence, and Elise Provost, Advisor to the General Rapporteur and Sustainability Network Head, sat down with Mr. Snoep to discuss the challenges of sustainability and the initiatives taken by the Dutch authority, including the achievements made, the problems encountered and the lessons to be learned.
The discussion was held in English.
On Thursday, 27 October 2022, Thomas Philippon, economist and Professor of Finance at New York University, Stern School of Business, and Benoît Cœuré, President of the Autorité de la concurrence, discussed the role of competition policy in this time of crisis, in Europe and the United States.*
The discussion was held in French.
On 20 June 2022, Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division at the US Department of Justice (DOJ), and Benoît Cœuré, President of the Autorité de la concurrence, discussed French and US perspectives on competition policy.
The discussion was held in English.
On Tuesday, 7 September 2021, from 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., an @Echelle event was held on the subject of professional bodies and competition law with Virginie Beaumeunier, Director General of the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), Nicolas Guérin, General Secretary of Orange and Vice-President of the French telecoms federation (FFTélécoms), Jacques Creyssel, Delegate General of the French trade and retail federation (FCD) and Co-President of the Economy, Competitiveness and Finance Commission at French employer federation MEDEF, and Léna Sersiron, Partner at Baker & McKenzie and President of the French Association of Lawyers Practising Competition Law (APDC). The discussion focused on professional bodies and competition law.
The discussion was held in French.
Watch the replay of the @Echelle event held live on YouTube on Tuesday, 23 March 2021 at 11 a.m. with Olivier Guersent, Director-General of the Directorate General for Competition at the European Commission, Angélique de Brousse, Senior Competition Counsel EMEA at Johnson & Johnson, and Anne Wachsmann, Partner at Linklaters. The discussion focused on merger referrals by national competition authorities under Article 22 of Regulation 139/2004.
The discussion was held in French.
- News
- Watch the replay
- Event summary (PDF)
- Conference script (PDF)
On Wednesday, 4 November 2020, @Echelle welcomed Andreas Mundt, President of the German Bundeskartellamt.
The discussion was held in English.
On 15 June 2020, @Echelle welcomed Enrique Martinez, CEO of the Fnac Darty group. The discussion focused on online sales, omnichannel strategy, the future of physical stores and the Covid-19 crisis.
The discussion was held in French.
On 28 November 2019, @Echelle welcomed Cédric O, Minister of State for Digital Affairs. The discussion focused on current digital projects, including regulatory developments, particularly with regard to antitrust and the digital sector.
The discussion was held in French.
On 2 October 2019, @Echelle welcomed François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France, to discuss: “Finance and digital players: fintechs, GAFA, bank transformation, what implications for the banking sector?”.
The discussion was held in French.
Professor Philip Marsden, co-author of the “Unlocking digital competition” or “Furman” report aimed at adapting competition policy to the challenges of the digital sector in the UK, presented the conclusions of the expert report delivered to the UK Consumer and Markets Authority on 5 September 2019.
The discussion was held in English.
- Interview with Philip Marsden (video)
- Watch the replay
- Event summary (PDF)
At the @Echelle event on 16 July 2019, Professor Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye presented the report submitted to the European Commission on 4 April 2019: “Competition policy for the digital era”. Mr. de Montjoye, one of the report’s three co-authors, introduced the main ideas of the report and then participated in a Q&A on its recommendations.
The discussion was held in French.
The first edition of @Echelle, organised on 11 April 2019, was devoted to blockchain. The Autorité welcomed Laure de la Raudière, a member of the French National Assembly and co-author of the information report prepared for the National Assembly’s joint fact-finding mission on blockchain, and Thibault Schrepel, Professor of Law at Utrecht University and author of several articles on blockchain, including “Is blockchain the death of antitrust law? The blockchain antitrust paradox”.
The discussion was held in French.
- Interview with Isabelle de Silva (video)
- Interview with Laure de la Raudière (video)
- Interview with Thibault Schrepel (video)
- Event summary (PDF)