CMS RRH competition team made their mark at the international competition conference

Last week (9 and 10 May 2024), our team represented CMS RRH Competition practice at the “Meet to Compete Competition Law and Policy Conference – Tools for New Rules” held in Opatija, Croatia.

Dieter Zandler from CMS Austria, Marija Zrno Prošić, Dina Čeliković and Filip Bjelinski from Croatia, Srđan Janković and Maja Živanović (Serbia, Montenegro & North Macedonia), and Robert Kordić and Gašper Hajdu from Slovenia, together spent two wonderful days in interactive discussions with representatives of competition authorities, judges, attorneys, in-house lawyers, and other legal practitioners from all over the Europe.

During the first day of the conference, discussions centered on topics including concentrations and FSR, the implications of the "effects-based approach," and recent developments in the Central and Southeast Europe (CEE & SEE) region. The team spent their first conference day pleasantly networking at the coffee break powered by CMS and in the evening at the cocktail and dinner with conference attendees.

The second day of the conference was all about workshops covering topics such as exclusionary abuses of dominance, horizontal agreements and disagreements, RPM, etc. Our Marija Zrno Prošić led a focused workshop on the most common vertical restraints, using practical examples from the field and engaging with the audience through survey questions to enhance interaction and understanding. The audience reactions were very positive and discussions continued after the workshop.

Overall, we were happy to have our close-nit competition team at this conference, as such events with regional outreach are crucial in fostering collaboration, enhance understanding of regulatory nuances, and promote best practices across different jurisdictions.

About the Conference
The Conference traditionally offers a platform for discussion about recent antitrust developments, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and South-East Europe (SEE). The Conference is supported by the Croatian Competition Agency, universities and local organizations, with great speakers from the OECD, European Commission, universities, industry and regulators from the entire region and Europe.