SA Competition Commission Signs MoU With The Directorate-General Commission of The European Commission
Competition authorities around the world recognise the importance of cooperation in investigating and prosecuting cross-border anti-competitive practices.
The recent memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Competition Commission and the European Commission aims to enhance national, regional and international cooperation and enforcement across various jurisdictions in relation to competition law related matters.
Over the past few years the Competition Commission has signed a number of MOUs with national and regional competition authorities such as the collective MOU with the BRICS countries. While the objectives of the various MOUs may vary, it is clear that the recent MOU between the Competition Commission and the European Commission is to “strengthen[s] cooperation between the two agencies in the field of competition law enforcement.”
One of the potential implications of such cooperation agreements is that information submitted by an entity to a national competition authority could be shared with authorities such as the European Commission and vice versa. This is likely to enhance the Competition Commission’s ability to uncover anti-competitive conduct, particularly if this occurs across jurisdictions.
