Seminar on EU merger control
2022-05-24 12:15 - 13:30 (Europe/Oslo) | Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics, Room E209/E210, Helleveien 30, Bergen, Norway
Tomaso Duso will present his empirical study of EU merger control, done jointly with Paula Affeldt, Klaus Gugler and Joanna Piechucka. They analyze more than 1000 mergers scrutinized by the European Commission between 1980 and 2019. One finding from their study is that they are concerned about the Commission’s merger enforcement being too lax.
Time: May 24 2022, 12.15-13.30
Venue: Room E209/210, Norwegian School of Economics
This is a joint seminar with Center for Business Economics (CBE) at NHH

Download paper here.

Abstract: Worldwide, the overwhelming majority of large horizontal mergers are cleared by antitrust authorities unconditionally. The presumption seems to be that efficiencies from these mergers are sizeable. We calculate the compensating efficiencies that would prevent a merger from harming consumers for 1,014 mergers affecting 12,325 antitrust markets scrutinized by the European Commission between 1990 and 2018. Compensating efficiencies seem too large to be achievable for many mergers. Barriers to entry and the number of firms active in the market are the most important factors determining their size. We highlight concerns about the Commission’s merger enforcement being too lax.

Seminar om prisregulering på dagligvarer
2022-05-06 10:30 - 13:00 | Auditorium 4, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5010, Norway
Bør innkjøpspriser på dagligvarer reguleres?
Det har i flere år pågått en debatt angående forskjeller i innkjøpspriser på dagligvarer og hvordan det evt. påvirker konkurransen i dagligvaremarkedet. Denne debatten er nå igjen aktuell, etter at SV nylig har sendt et representantforslag til Stortinget om å regulere innkjøpspriser på dagligvare. Vi har bedt tre akademikere og tre personer fra bransjen kommentere forslaget fra SV:
Professor Espen Moen, BI,
Professor Øystein Foros, NHH,
Førsteamanuensis Ronny Gjendemsjø, Universitetet i Bergen,
Karl Alveng Munthe-Kaas, Oda
Stein Rømmerud, Norgesgruppen
Helge Hasselgård, Dagligvareleverandørenes Forening

Seminaret avsluttes med en paneldebatt ledet av Tor Arne Fanghol fra universitetsavisen Khrono.
Seminaret kan følges både fysisk og digitalt.

Seminar on the General Court’s Google shopping judgment
2022-04-29 10:15 - 12:00 | Auditorium 4, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5010, Norway
BECCLE is organizing a seminar about the General Court’s judgments in the Google shopping case and the Intel case with several well distinguished speakers. The judgment raises several interesting issues related to competition in digital markets, and the speakers will discuss the judgment from different angles.
Thomas Vinje (partner of Clifford and Chance and assistant professor II Faculty of Law, University of Bergen), will give an overview of the judgment
Jorge Padilla (Compass Lexecon) will discuss the implications of the General Court’s rulings in the Google Shopping and Intel cases for the standard of proof in Article 102 TFEU
Cani Fernandez (president of the Spanish Competition Authorities) will discuss the interface between antitrust law and the Digital Markets act in the light of the Google Shopping judgment.
Time: Friday 29th April at 10:15 to 12:00
Venue: Auditorium 4, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen (Magnus Lagabøtes Plass 1)
The seminar will also be streamed on Zoom.

Sustainability and competition law – a conflict?
2022-04-07 12:15 - 14:00 | Auditorium 4, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5010, Norway
Professor Maarten Pieter Schinkel
A more sustainable society is needed to slow down and ultimately reverse the rapid climate change. For firms to become more sustainable, they are often encouraged to join forces for example by entering sustainability agreements. This triggers the questions of whether the ban on anticompetitive agreements is a problem when faced with these types of climate friendly collaborations, and if so, whether competition law should be revised in order to allow for sustainability considerations to be taken into account as possible justifications under the prohibition against anticompetitive agreements.
BECCLE is pleased to announce a panel of four expert speakers:

Professor Maarten Pieter Schinkel, University of Amsterdam (presentation)
Associate professor Ronny Gjendemsjø, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen (presentation)
Director General Tina Søreide, Norwegian Competition Authority (presentation)
Partner Siri Teigum, Thommessen Law Firm
Lawyer Kristoffer Grøndahl, Thommessen Law Firm (presentation)

Time: Thursday April 7 at 12:15-14:00
Venue: Auditorium 4, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen (Magnus Lagabøtes Plass 1)
You can also follow the seminar on Zoom. To join us on Zoom, please follow the invitation link below:
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 614 9628 6840
Password: [REDACTED]

The role of privacy in competition law
2020-09-23 12:30 - 14:00
Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics (BECCLE), the Research group for EU/EEA Commercial law and the Research group for Information and Innovation law, are pleased to announce a guest lecture by Ms. Arletta Gorecka, PhD Candidate in Law at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. In the lecture, Ms. Gorecka will elaborate on the role of privacy in competition law by presenting two recent cases. The lecture will take place 23. September via Zoom (the link is published below).
“The relationship between competition law and privacy is still seen as problematic with academics and professionals trying to adequately assess the impact of privacy on the competition law sphere.” Indeed, it is not difficult to agree with Ms. Gorecka, whose research is dedicated to the increasingly more interesting interplay between competition law and personal data protection.In June, Ms Gorecka published a chapter “Is “Privacy” a means to protect the competition or advance objectives of innovation and consumer welfare?” in Maria Tzanou (Ed.), Personal Data Protection and Legal Developments in the European Union Hershey, PA, IGI Global, 2020.
Ms. Gorecka will elaborate on the topic by examining two recent cases. The first concerns Facebook, an online social media and social networking service that does not require any further introduction. On 23 June 2020, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) provisionally confirmed the allegation of Facebook abusing dominant position as a result of Facebook’s terms of service that allow for the processing and use of user data, which are collected online outside the Facebook platform. The German Competition Authority (Bundeskartellamt) prohibited Facebook from processing such data without additional consent given by private users. On 23 June the antitrust division of the Federal Court of Justice decided that the Bundeskartellamt’s prohibition can be enforced.
The second case concerns the European Commission’s in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition of Fitbit by Google. Fitbit is an American company active in the development, manufacturing and distribution of wearable devices (both smartwatches and fitness trackers) and connected scales in the health and wellness sector, as well as in the supply of related software and services. As provided in the press release, the Commission is concerned that the proposed transaction would further entrench Google’s market position in the online advertising markets by increasing the already vast amount of data that Google could use for personalisation of the ads it serves and displays. As Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, responsible for competition policy, clarified: “The use of wearable devices by European consumers is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. This will go hand in hand with an exponential growth of data generated through these devices. This data provides key insights about the life and the health situation of the users of these devices. Our investigation aims to ensure that control by Google over data collected through wearable devices as a result of the transaction does not distort competition.”
The lecture will take place via Zoom. To participate in the lecture, follow this Zoom link. The Meeting ID is: 615 0939 2478. The password is: 1b927s02.

Canceled: Bergen Competition Policy Conference 2020
2020-04-23 08:00 - 2020-04-24 17:00 | NHH, Helleveien 30, Bergen, 5045, Norway
The BECCLE conference has been canceled due to the recent developments of COVID-19 outbreak in Norway. We are considering the possibility of setting a new date for the conference this fall.
*
Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics (BECCLE) is pleased to announce the sixth annual conference on competition policy on the 23st and 24nd of April in Bergen, Norway.
The conference combines sessions with invited speakers and presentations and discussions of original research papers in the fields of competition law and economics.
Time and date: 23 and 24 April 2020
Location: NHH Norwegian School of Economics
Contact: For any questions, please contact the organising committee via beccle2020@nhh.no
For the open sessions at the BECCLE conference, we welcome both theoretical and empirical papers, as well as case studies. Lawyers are especially encouraged to submit papers. Submission deadline expired on February 3, 2020. Authors of accepted papers will be notified no later than March 9, 2020. All papers will be allocated a discussant, and presenters may be asked to discuss a paper.
Register here
Keynote speakers

Professor Aviv Nevo, University of Pennsylvania
Professor Bruno Jullien, TSE
More speakers will be announced soon

Invited speakers:

Professor Armin Schmutzler, University of Zurich
Professor Stephen Davies, University of East Anglia
Associate Professor Chiara Fumagalli, Bocconi University
Professor Thibaud Vergé, CREST, ENSAE ParisTech.
Professor Joseph Harrington, University of Pennsylvania

Additional Information
There is no conference fee. We offer lunch free of charge to all attendees. We also offer a conference dinner (free of charge) to all presenters.
We have reserved a room block for our conference participants at Thon Hotel Orion. Please check this web page for reservation and rate information. Booking deadline: Friday 3 April.
Conference organizers
Scientific Committee

Greg Shaffer (U Rochester and UoB/BECCLE)
Thibaud Verge (ENSAE ParisTech and NHH/BECCLE)
Özlem Bedre-Defolie (ESMT Berlin)
Joseph Harrington (U Pennsylvania and NHH/BECCLE)
Erling Hjelmeng (U Oslo and BECCLE)
Frode Steen (NHH and BECCLE)
Malin Arve (NHH and BECCLE)
Tommy Staahl Gabrielsen (U Bergen and BECCLE)
Ronny Gjendemsjø (U Bergen and BECCLE)
Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui (U Bergen and BECCLE)
Simen Aardal Ulsaker (NHH and BECCLE)
Bjørn Olav Johansen (U Bergen and BECCLE)
Tore Nilssen (U Oslo and BECCLE)

Local Organising Committee

Olga Pushkash (NHH)
Alina Ozhegova (NHH and BECCLE)
Emil Mathias Strøm Halseth (NHH and BECCLE)
Ingrid Halvorsen Barlund (U Bergen and BECCLE)
Teis Lunde Lømo (U Bergen and BECCLE).

Seminar on input price discrimination
2020-01-17 12:45 - 14:00 | Department of Economics, University of Bergen, seminar room 327, Fosswinckels gate 14, Bergen, 5007, Norway
BECCLE together with the Department of Economics are pleased to invite you to a seminar with Germain Gaudin (Copenhagen Business School) on Friday January 17. Gaudin will present his paper entitled “Input price discrimination, demand forms, and welfare’’ (joint work with Romain Lestage). The paper studies industries in which retailers face asymmetric input prices from their upstream suppliers, such as the Norwegian grocery market.
Please note that the venue is the Department of Economics, University of Bergen (Fosswinckelsgate 14), Seminar room 327 (3rd floor).
Abstract: “In this paper, we analyse the effects of input price discrimination by an upstream monopolist selling to firms with various degrees of efficiency. When downstream markets are independent, we first study whether the upstream monopolist has an incentive to reduce or to increase the relative cost difference amongst downstream firms. Then, we examine the impact of input price discrimination on output and welfare. A key determinant of the effects of input price discrimination on prices, output, and welfare is the sum of demand curvature and pass-through elasticity. We apply our findings to the set of demand forms with constant pass-through rates, as well as other demand forms. We also discuss the cases of demand asymmetries across markets and price competition downstream”.

Investing in our future, divesting from our past. From climate risk to climate opportunity
2020-01-16 08:30 - 16:00 | Bergen Literature House, Østre Skostredet 5, 5017 Bergen, Bergen, 5017, Norway
Photo: Jason Blackeye on Unsplash

Registration for the conference is done through this link, by January 9th (registration, breakfast and lunch is free of charge).
The 16th of January 2020, from 08:30 to 16:00, the law faculty at the University of Bergen and the Research group for Natural Resource Law, Environmental Law and Development Law in cooperation with Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation (CET), the Research group for international law and the Research group for EU/EEA Commercial Law invite you to a conference with the theme “Investing in our future, divesting from our past. From climate risk to climate opportunity”. The conference is part of Klimafestivalen § 112 – Bergen 2020.
The University of Bergen, Norway, is hosting a conference on the normative implications of climate risk for divestment approaches, metrics, and due diligence on 16 January 2020, at Bergen Litteraturhus, from 9am-4pm. The conference builds also on one of the European Green Deal’s thematic areas, sustainable finance, and addresses it with economists, lawyers, jurists, linguists, film directors, and political scientists from the University of Bergen, the Norwegian School of Economics, Frankfurt School of Management and Finance, the University of Oslo, IDDRI Paris, and Columbia University. For more information, follow this link.

Seminar om hvorfor og hvordan man kan stimulere til lokal deltagelse i anskaffelsesprosesser
2019-10-17 12:15 - 14:00 | Auditoriet, Jus II, University of Bergen, Jekteviksbakken 31, Bergen, Norway
John Unwing/Unsplash.

17. Oktober inviterer BECCLE til et seminar om hvorfor og hvordan man kan stimulere til lokal deltakelse i offentlige anskaffelsesprosesser. Seminaret finner sted fra 12:15-14:00 i Auditoriet i Jusbygg II på det juridiske fakultet ved Universitetet i Bergen. Forsker Malin Arve (NHH) vil snakke om hvorfor dette er økonomisk lønnsomt og Ragnhild Kristina Ølstad (Inventura) vil presentere det juridiske handlingsrommet og hvordan man kan stimulere til økt konkurranse og deltakelse. Til sist vil representanter fra Sykehusinnkjøp presentere hvordan de legger til rette for bred deltakelse både fra lokale og nasjonale bedrifter i sine utlysninger.
Et argument for å sentralisere innkjøp er stordriftsfordeler, men faren er at små og lokale bedrifter ikke får mulighet til å delta i konkurransen.
I fjor fikk Kjetil Smørås og hotellkjeden De Bergenske erfare dette da de ikke fikk delta i konkurransen om en hotellavtale med Helse Bergen. Smørås fikk støtte fra både politikere og Konkurransetilsynet. Dette fikk Sykehusinnkjøp (som var ansvarlig for konkurransen til Helse Bergen) til å se nærmere på hvordan de kan innrette anskaffelser slik at de kan ivareta små og mellomstore kjeder og enkeltstående hoteller.
Senest i august 2019 ble Kjetil Smørås og De Bergenske utsatt for det samme igjen. Denne gangen i en anbudskonkurranse om hotelltjenester utlyst av Universitets- og høgskolerådet.
Dette seminaret tar for seg hvorfor det er økonomisk lønnsomt å inkludere små og mellomstore bedrifter i anskaffelsesprosessen, hva loven sier og det juridiske handlingsrommet, samt vil Sykehusinnkjøp bli brukt som en konkret case for hvordan dette kan gjøres i praksis.

Seminar on EU state aid regulation
2019-10-16 10:00 - 11:30 | Auditorium 4, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5010, Norway
Patric Tomasso/Unsplash.

The Research Group for EU/EEA, Competition and Market Law and Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics (BECCLE) are pleased to invite you to a seminar with Linda Nyberg, from the department of political science at Lund University, Sweden, on EU state aid regulation. The seminar will take place at the 16th of October, from 10:00 to 11:30, in Auditorium 4, Law Building 1, at the University of Bergen.
Ever wondered why policymakers seem so convinced that more competition is the solution to all political and economic problems? Or why “free market” reform tends to end up in new forms of bureaucratic government rather than less? This seminar will try to answer these broader questions by focusing on the ideological basis of EU state aid regulation – a set of rules that prevents governments at all political levels from acting in ways that distorts competition.

Linda Nyberg (phd) has a postdoc position at the department of political science at Lund University, Sweden. Her presentation is a summary of her dissertation Market bureaucracy. Neoliberalism, Competition and State Aid Policy that can be downloaded from this link. Her current research project focus on bureaucratization and better regulation policy.

Seminar on the Extraterritorial Effects of EU Economic Law – EU Law Beyond the Union
2019-10-02 09:00 - 10:00 | Auditorium 4, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5010, Norway
Photo: Sean Pollock, Unsplash.

For registration to the Seminar, click this link. The registration deadline is the 1st of October, at 18:00.

The Research Group for EU/EEA Competition and Market Law and Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics (BECCLE) are pleased to invite you to a seminar with Ass. Prof. Nuno Cunha Rodriguez, Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, on the Extraterritorial Effects of EU Economic Law – EU Law Beyond the Union, at 2nd of Oktober, from 09:00 to 10:00, in Auditorium 4, Law Building 1, University of Bergen.
The application of EU Economic Law considers an appropriate link with the territory of the Union in respect to the basic principle of territoriality enshrined in public international law. However, in some cases, public international law allows States to exercise their jurisdiction extraterritorially. Including enforcing decisions of its institutions elsewhere, and which has caused stir in Norway for example in the case of ACER in energy matters, but also other areas such as financing and banking markets.
Over the years, EU Economic law has been expanding its territorial application, by applying exceptions to the principle of territoriality and adding new elements of connection.
This phenomenon – that we designate the “territorial expansion of EU Economic law” – can be noticed in different branches of law, like competition law – which was reinforced after the Intel case (case C-413/14 P) -, Environmental Law, Food and Consumer Law, Data Protection and International Trade Law.
Although it’s clear that, according to the inherent territorial scope of TFEU rules, the EC is not competent to assess an undertaking established outside the EU, it’s also clear that the final decisions of the EC or the ECJ can produce jurisdictional effects in third countries.
All these topics will be analyzed at the conference.
This BECCLE Seminar will take place in Auditorium 4 at the Law Faculty of the University of Bergen, located at the right-hand side when you enter the main entrance of the Faculty, from 09:00 to 10:00.
For Norwegian Lawyers: Dersom det er nok interesse for dette, vil kursbevis i etterkant av kurset bli utstedt til deltakerne til bruk for registrering av etterutdanning. For mer informasjon om registrering av etterutdanning hos Advokatforeningen, klikk denne linken.

Ass. Prof. Nuno Cunha Rodriguez, Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration at the University of Lisbon, Portugal.
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Lunchtime lecture on the "Fosen Line" saga
2019-09-10 12:15 - 13:30 | Auditorium 2, Juridisk Fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, 5050, Norway
Vidar Nordli-Mathisen (Unsplash).

The Research Group for EU/EEA, Competition and Market Law are pleased to invite you to the first of three Lunchtime Lectures being held this Autumn, about the “Fosen Line” saga. The lecture will be held by Ragnhild Kristina Ølstad and will take place at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen.

Ragnhild Kristina Ølstad will talk about the main hearing in the Fosen Line case, which is currently pending before the Supreme Court of Norway. The case concerns the conditions for obtaining compensation for positive contract interest in Norwegian public procurement law.
The case caused a real stir after Frostating Court of Appeal decided to effectively ignore a judgement from the EFTA Court regarding the interpretation of the Remedies Directive – the first time such a rejection has come from a lower instance court in Norway. The case made controversy again when the Supreme Court of Norway decided to ask the EFTA Court for a second judgement in the very same case.
The case raises questions regarding Norway’s obligations under the EEA agreement, the understanding of the Remedies Directive and the relationship between national courts in the EFTA States and the EFTA Court. The topics raised are thus highly relevant to all three EU/EEA courses on offer this term, but should also be of interest for students in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year of study.

Ragnhild Kristine Ølstad, Inventura.
Ragnhild Kristina Ølstad works with public procurement law in Inventura AS. She wrote her master’s thesis of law at UiB in the spring of 2018 about damages for positive contract interest in procurement. The thesis focuses on the Fosen Line case, the term “material error” in Norwegian law in light of the remedies directive.

Seminar on Case Resolution Mechanisms under Articles 101 and 102 TFEU
2019-08-22 13:00 - 14:30 | Auditoriet, Jus II, University of Bergen, Jekteviksbakken 31, Bergen, Norway
Photo: Private
The Research Group for EU/EEA Commercial Law and Bergen Centre for Competition Law and
Economics (BECCLE) are pleased to invite you to a seminar with senior advisor at the Swedish
Competition Authority, Katharina Voss, Thursday the 22nd of August at the Faculty of Law,
University of Bergen.
Voss defended her PhD thesis entitled “Between Enforcement and Regulation. A Study of the System
of Case Resolution Mechanisms used by the European Commission in the Enforcement of Articles
101 and 102 TFEU” in April 2019. At the seminar, Voss will talk about her research and the main
findings of her thesis. In her thesis, Voss examines the current design of the system of case resolution
mechanisms used by the European Commission where an infringement of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU
is suspected. She further advances some proposals regarding this design. Please note that the seminar will not be recorded.
For more about Voss’ research, please follow this link.

BECCLE International Seminar on Utilities Procurement
2019-06-27 11:30 - 15:00
On the 27th of June we will have an international half a day seminar on the “Utilities Procurement” which will be
organized by the Bergen Center for Competition Law & Economics and the Faculty of Law of the University of Bergen.

The event will take place starting from 11.30 and should be finished around 15.00, including a lunch break, at Seminar room 2, of the Law Faculty.

Utilities, such as providers of services as necessary as water, electricity, gas, transportation, and postal services, are entities that may or may not be under the scope of application of the EU/EEA and national public procurement rules when carrying out purchases. Despite of their importance and economic significance, the application of the procurement regime to these type of entities is under discussed, including the particularities of this regime – which is ‘lighter’ than the traditional one but also more prone to negotiation. In this international seminar we aim at stirring the debate on the regulation of utilities procurement with four presentations from international specialists in the field.

Agenda & Speakers:
Location: Seminar room 2, Faculty of Law, UiB – Bergen
Session I: 11.30 to 13.00
– Prof. Patricia Valcárcel Fernández, University of Vigo (Spain) – “Utilities Procurement and Competition: The
Spanish Case”
• Dr. Sune Troels Poulsen, attorney, former associate professor at the University of Copenhagen, “Article 79 of
the Utilities Directive: Relying on the capacities of other entities when applying for qualification for a public contract and for substituting such entities during the tender procedure and under the performance of the contract.”

Lunch break 13.00 to 13.30

Session II: Exposure to Competition, 13.30 to 15.00
• Rachel Harriet, EFTA Surveillance Authority – “A practical perspective on exemptions under the Utilities
Directive”
• Dr. Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui, University of Bergen – “Sufficient Exposure to Competition & Energy
Utilities”

In case you would like to attend the seminar, please send an email to Ignacio.herrera-anchustegui@uib.no to
calculate food orders. The seminar is free of charge.

Seminar on The Competitiveness and Regulation of Offshore Wind Electricity
2019-05-20 11:30 - 16:00 | Seminarrom 2, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB
Photo by Nicholas Doherty on Unsplash.

Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics (BECCLE), Bergen Offshore Wind Centre (BOW), and the Aberdeen University Centre for Energy Law (AUCEL), are pleased to invite you to the international seminar “The Competitiveness and Regulation of Offshore Wind Electricity” to be held at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bergen.

Venue: Seminar Room 2, 4th floor, The Faculty of Law.

To register for the event, lunch and refreshments, please send an email to Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui.

The importance of renewable energy is beyond any doubt for the development of our society and the aim of minimizing the impact of climate change. In this development one of the relatively new actors that has erupted with strength in the last decade is the production of electricity by offshore wind turbines. Offshorewind power is no longer a theoretical possibility but an economic reality as the price per megawatt hour produce is reduced, the turbines become more efficient, the technology allows for them to be deployed further into the sea and there appears to be less issues of social unacceptance to this technology. Thus, it comes with no surprise the interest, for example, of the Norwegian Government to develop this technology, nor that European countries, but also other nations like China are actively investing in offshore wind technology.

However, despite these advances, many questions remain unaltered when it comes to the economic viability, legal regulation and social perceptions concerning this source of renewable electricity.

In this international seminar we will discuss the competitiveness and regulation of offshore wind from an engineering, law and social science perspective and focusing on issues ranging from the North Sea to Australia.

Agenda and speakers

Meet, greet and lunch
Dr. Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui, UiB, Preliminary remarks
Prof. Finn Gunnar Nielsen, UiB and Director of BOW – The Bergen Offshore Wind Centre and Offshore wind realities and possibilities
Prof. Sigrid Schütz, UiB, From Strategic Marine Planning to Project Licences
Prof. Birgitte Egelund Olsen, University of Aarhus, Community acceptance of offshore wind projects: The Danish experience
Coffee break
Prof. Tina Hunter, University of Aberdeen and Director of AUCEL – An Ill Wind Blows: Perceptions of Wind In Australia And The Legal Framework That Perpetuates Wind Sceptics
Dr. Eddy Wifa, University of Aberdeen, Towards a Robust Offshore Wind Health and Safety Risk Governance: The UK Experience
PhD candidate Mary Gilmore-Maurer, University of Aberdeen, topic to be confirmed
Catharina Hovind, master student UiB, Offshorewind Licensing in Norway

Bergen Competition Policy Conference 2019
2019-04-25 08:30 - 2019-04-26 16:00
Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics (BECCLE) hosted the 5th annual conference on competition policy on the 25th and 26th of April 2019 in Bergen, Norway.
The conference combined sessions with invited speakers and presentations and discussions of original research papers in the fields of competition law and economics.
Time and date: 25 and 26 April 2019.
Location: Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
Contact: For any questions, please contact the organising committee by using the following email address: local2019@beccle.uib.no
The conference program is available for download here. Video recordings, and the slides, of most plenary sessions are now uploaded. The slides can be found by clicking the title of the presentations below.
Keynote speakers

Daniel P. O’Brien, Compass Lexecon
“Price Discrimination Policy in Intermediate Markets.” [Video]
Joseph E. Harrington Jr., U Pennsylvania and NHH/BECCLE
“Competition Law and Pricing Algorithms.” [Video]
Ariel Ezrachi, University of Oxford
“I can’t believe it’s not butter – The tale of digitalisation, competition and misconception.“ [Video]

Plenary sessions
The session “algorithms and markets” [Video]

Gabriele Rovigatti, Bank of Italy
“From Mad Men to Maths Men: Concentration and Buyer Power in Online Advertising.”
Timo Klein, U Amsterdam
“Autonomous Algorithmic Collusion: Q-Learning Under Sequential Pricing.”
Giacomo Calzolari, EUI
“Artificial intelligence, algorithmic pricing and collusion.”

A session “Input price discrimination and large buyers” [Video]

Claire Chambolle, INRA ALISS
“The Effect of Input Price Discrimination on Retail Prices: Theory and Evidence from France”
Hugo Molina, U Leuven
“Buyer Alliances in Vertically Related Markets”

Sadly, Greg Shaffer had to cancel.
A session on competition law [Video]

Lars Henriksson, Stockholm School of Economics
“Discrimination in EU Competition Law”
Björn Lundqvist, U Stockholm
“Data Collaboration, Pooling and Hoarding under Competition Law”

Organizers
Scientific Committee:

Greg Shaffer (U Rochester and NHH/BECCLE)
Thibaud Verge (ENSAE ParisTech and U Bergen/BECCLE)
Erling Hjelmeng (U Oslo and BECCLE)
Caroline Heide Jørgensen (U Copenhagen and BECCLE)
Frode Steen (NHH and BECCLE)
Tommy Staahl Gabrielsen (U Bergen and BECCLE)
Ronny Gjendemsjø (U Bergen and BECCLE)
Bjørn Olav Johansen (U Bergen and BECCLE)
Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui (U Bergen and BECCLE)
Simen Aardal Ulsaker (NHH and BECCLE)

Local Commitee

Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui
Ingrid Halvorsen Barlund
Charlotte Bjørnhaug Evensen
Håvard Mork Sandvik

Guest lecture: State aid and tender procedures
2019-03-12 11:00 - 12:00 | Seminar room 1, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Norway
Photo: Avda / avda-foto.de

BECCLE has the pleasure of inviting you to a seminar with Cees Dekker, Tuesday 12 March, on state aid and the tender procedure
Does a Tender Exclude an Article 107(1) TFEU Advantage?
One of the elements of the concept of State aid as referred to in Article 107(1) TFEU is the element of advantage. The element concerns an economic advantage that an undertaking could not have obtained under normal market conditions. A common opinion is that a tender procedure regarding the purchase or sale of goods or services by a government body guarantees those ‘normal market conditions’. It appears however that the European Commission in several occasions considered transactions between government bodies and undertakings as state aid even if that undertaking is selected by a tender procedure, for instance regarding the rollout of a charging pole infrastructure or the operation of a sports infrastructure. Furthermore, for a state aid measure to be compatible with the internal market the use of a tender procedure sometimes is required.
In this seminar, Cees Dekker will discuss these relations between state aid and tender procedures and the different approaches by the European Court of Justice and the European Commission.
Cees Dekker is a partner with law firm Nysingh in The Netherlands and has 30 years of experience in EU and Competition Law. In his practice focusing on state aid law, he advises government bodies and undertakings how to shape financial relations in such a way that they do not form illegal state aid. He has been involved in several state aid notofcation procedures with the European Commission. Apart from being a lawyer in private practice he is a guest lecturer in state aid law at the University of Amsterdam, a member of the board of editors of the journal Markt & Mededinging (“markets and competition”), as well as of the board of editors of Tijdschrift voor Staatssteun (Journal for State aid). He also is a member of the advisory committee on competition law of the Dutch Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW) and of the advisory committee on competition law of the Netherlands Bar Association. Recently he has been appointed as non-governmental advisor for the European Commission in the International Competition Network.
Time: Tuesday 12 March kl. 11.00 – 12.00
Place:: Seminarrom 1, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
Speakers:
Cees DekkerPartner, Nysingh

Conference on Developments in Energy Markets
2019-01-14 09:00 - 2019-01-15 12:30 | Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes Plass 1, Bergen, 5010, Norway
Photo by Basil Samuel Lade on Unsplash.

The Bergen Center for Competition Law & Economics (BECCLE) invites you to the international conference “Developments in Energy Markets: A multidisciplinary perspective”. This event will take place on the 14th and 15th of January 2019, at the Law Faculty of the University of Bergen.

The event is part of the research project “Regulating energy markets, a perspective from EEA/EU Competition and Public Procurement Law” financed thanks to the support of the AkademiaAvtalen (UiB and Equinor ASA)

Program:
The program can be downloaded here.

The conference aims to gather energy academics and practitioners from different backgrounds and disciplines to foster multidisciplinary exchange and future collaboration by serving as a forum for discussion of relevant and timely topics of interest in the energy world. Our focus will the future of energy markets and the intersection of law, economics, new technologies and economic geography.

Registration:
In case you would like to participate, please send an email to Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui to register your participation. You are welcome to participate both days or just some particular sessions only, depending on your schedule. Please do not hesitate to contact us in case you would require any additional information.

Conference venue:
Mon 14th: Auditorium at Jekteviksbakken 31 (Juss 2), entrance from Jekteviken or via the Faculty of Law.
Tue 15th: Auditorium 4 at the Faculty of Law (Dragefjellet skole), Magnus Lagabøtes Plass 1.

New seminar: State aid applied to environmental taxes
2018-12-04 12:00 - 13:00 | Seminarrom 2, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

Research group for Competition and Market Law, Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics (BECCLE) and Centre for climate and energy transformation (CET) have the pleasure to invite all who are interested in Green taxation and EU/EEA State aid rules to a seminar with Joana Pedroso, a PhD Student in Tax Law at the Department of Law at Gothenburg University.

The full title of the seminar is:
“State aid applied to environmental taxes – An analysis of the environmental protection and sustainable development objectives integration within the internal market”

The seminar will be in english.

Time: Tuesday December 4, 12.00 – 13.00
Place: Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Jusbygget, Seminar room 2 (408), 4th floor (circle formed)
Registration:Email to Judith.Dalsgard@uib.no (as soon as possible).
Welcome!

Seminar om sukkeravgifter i lys av statsstøtteregelverket
2018-11-21 12:00 - 13:30 | Seminarrom 2, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB
BECCLE og Forskergruppen for konkurranse- og markedsrett har gleden av å invitere til et seminar om sukkeravgifter i lys av statsstøtteregelverket.
Etter at forslaget til statsbudsjettet for 2019 ble lagt frem, har problemene med å skille mellom en marsipangris og en marsipanpølse i statsstøtteretten nok en gang fått oppmerksomhet. De omstridte og kraftige økningene i avgiftene på sjokolade- og sukkervarer, og alkoholfrie drikkevarer, ble klaget inn til EØS-avtalens tilsynsorgan, ESA, med den begrunnelse at avgiftene utgjør statsstøtte i strid med EØS-avtalen.
Mens man venter på ESAs vurdering er det interessant å få med seg hvordan enkelte EU-medlemsstater har utformet avgifter som også omtales som sukkeravgifter. Den 24. april 2018 godkjente EU-kommisjonen den irske sukkeravgiften; den danske er fortsatt under vurdering.
På dette seminaret vil Marteen Aalbers redegjøre for hvordan EU-kommisjonen ser på sukkeravgifter/sukkerskatter, og Malgorzata Cyndecka skal gi en kort presentasjon av den norske ordningen.
Tid: Onsdag 21. november kl. 12.00 – 13.30
Sted: Seminarrom 2, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB
Påmelding:Av hensyn til matbestilling er det påkrevd med påmelding til Malgorzata.Cyndecka@uib.no senest fredag den 16. november 2018.
Vel møtt.

Recent legal developments and new energy infrastructure
2018-11-13 10:00 - 11:30 | Auditoriet, Jus II, University of Bergen, Jekteviksbakken 31, Bergen, Norway
The Bergen Center for Competition Law & Economics (BECCLE) and the Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation (CET) invites you to an interesting talk about the recent legal developments related to the new energy infrastructure.
Technological changes, the eruption of renewable sources and the increase of energy demand by consumers poses several questions concerning the adequacy of power generation and sufficiency and development of energy infrastructures.
To deal with these issues of new energy infrastructure the intervention of the state is common place. Either through the setting of rules, and or the financing of infrastructure projects – publicly and/or privately owned. This state intervention generates economic, political and societal impact which distort the competition between energy suppliers but can also be used to satisfy needs in the public interest.
Prof. Leigh Hancher from the University of Tilburg and the Florence School of Regulation will be visiting the University of Bergen to discuss her views concerning “Recent legal developments and new energy infrastructure”, touching aspects such as the adequacy and legality of state financing through state aid, the impact of new rules on gas commercialization and their impact in the Norwegian markets.
Time: Tuesday 13. November 10:00 – 11:30
Place:: Jekteviksbakken 31, Ground floor, Auditorium
Registration:Due to serving of light refreshments we ask you to register by email to judith.dalsgard@uib.no
Speaker:
Leigh HancherProfessorProfessor of European Law at Tilburg University and Director of the Energy Law and Regulation at the Florence School of Regulation

BECCLE-seminar: forhandlinger og kvalifikasjonskrav
2018-10-26 13:00 - 16:00 | Seminarrom E, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5010, Norway
BECCLE har gleden av å invitere til et halvdagsseminar om forhandlinger og kvalifikasjonskrav i offentlige anskaffelser, med Linda Midtun, Anders Thue og Lene Kristin Hennø.
I seminaret vil vi diskutere om man etter regelverket for offentlige anskaffelser har adgang til å forhandle bort vesentlige avvik i tilbudene, fremgangsmåten ved reduksjon av antallet tilbud en i konkurranse med forhandling, og mulighetene leverandører har til å støtte seg på andre virksomheter for å oppfylle kvalifikasjonskrav. Spørsmålet om adgangen til å bortforhandle vesentlige avvik har vært omsdiskutert siden EU-domstolens dom i Nordecon, sak C-561/12, og muligheten til å støtte seg på andre virksomheter for å oppfylle kvalifikasjonskrav i en konkurranse har vist seg å by på utfordringer i praksis.
Tid: Fredag 26. oktober kl. 13.00 – 16.00
Sted: Seminarrom E, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB
Påmelding:seminaret er gratis of åpent for alle, men vi setter pris på at du melder deg på.
Felles søknad om godkjenning som etterutdanning for advokater kan sendes i etterkant av seminaret.
+ MELD MEG PÅ
Innledere:
Anders ThuePartnerSimonsen Vogt WiigLene Kristin HennøAdvokatWikrborg ReinLinda MidtunStipendiatDet juridiske fakultet, UiB, og BECCLE
Program:

13.00 – 14.00: Linda Midtun – «Konkurranse med forhandling: Adgang til å forhandle bort vesentlige avvik?»
14.00 – 15.00: Anders Thue – «Reduksjon av antall tilbud eller løsninger etter foa § 23-11»
15.00 – 16.00: Lene Kristin Hennø – «Adgangen til å støtte seg på andre foretak etter foa § 16-11»

Presentasjoner:
Konkurranse med forhandling – kan avvik forhandles bort
Nedvalg – reduksjon av antall tilbud etter § 23-11
Adgangen til å støtte seg på andre foretak etter § 16-11

BECCLE-seminar: Fastprisavtalen for bøker
2018-10-23 12:15 - 14:00
BECCLE har gleden av å invitere til seminar tirsdag 23. oktober om den norske fastprisordningen for bøker, som Regjeringen nå har signalisert at de ønsker å utvide.
Tid: Tirsdag 23. oktober kl. 12.15 – 14.00
Sted: Auditorium 3, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB
Seminaret er gratis og åpent for publikum

Opptak av seminaret er nå tilgjengelig under!

Den norske bokavtalen innebærer at forlagene fastsetter prisen på nye bøker. Alle forhandlere må holde den fastsatte prisen til 1. mai året etter utgivelse. Avtalen gjelder ut 2018, og bransjen har så langt fått unntak fra konkurranseloven § 10.
Forlagene argumenterer for at avtalen gir et større mangfold av bøker og hjelper nye forfatterskap. Konkurransetilsynet har vært kritisk og har argumentert for at bokavtalen kan undergrave kulturpolitiske målsettinger ved at den fører til høyere priser på ny norsk litteratur. I fjor varslet også ESA at de ville undersøke om bokavtalen går for langt og bryter med EØS-avtalen.
Regjeringen har nylig foreslått å utvide den eksisterende fastprisordningen til å gjelde i ett år fra utgivelsesdato. I tillegg vil de at den nye avtalen skal gjelde i fire år, i stedet for to som i dagens avtale. Forslaget skal snart ut på høring.
Til å diskutere dette har vi invitert konkurransedirektør Lars Sørgard, professor og økonom Øystein Foros (NHH), og førsteamanuensis og jurist Ronny Gjendemsjø (UiB og BECCLE).
Lars SørgardKonkurransedirektørKonkurransetilsynetØystein ForosProfessorNHH Norges Handelshøyskole, Institutt for foretaksøkonomiRonny GjendemsjøFørsteamanuensisDet juridiske fakultet, UiB, og BECCLE
Presentasjoner (slides):

Øystein Foros
Lars Sørgard
Ronny Gjendemsjø

Opptak av seminaret:

Les mer:
Utvider fastpris på bøker
Grande vil forlenge fastprisen på bøker
Aftenposten mener: Leserne taper på ny bokavtale
Bøker blir ikke dyrere med ny bokavtale
– Gavepakke til forlagene
Unge Venstre mener Trine Skei Grandes forslag vil virke hemmende på bokmarkedet
Bokavtalen (Forleggerforeningen)
Bokavtalen og fastpris (Forleggerforeningen)

Competition from Bottom to Top: New Trends in Electricity Markets
2018-09-24 12:00 - 16:00 | Auditorium 2, Juridisk Fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, 5050, Norway
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

In this Energy Lab and BECCLE joint seminar we will discuss some of the challenges in the future for the electrical grid, the industry players, the role of the consumers, the rules and the business opportunities.
Energy markets as we know them are a thing of the past. The shift to renewable energy sources and the introduction of new technologies are transforming the way we produce, trade and consume electricity. And now, more than ever, consumers (and also producers of energy) have a leading role dictating how the future of electricity markets will look like, shifting the competition game from to the top to the bottom of the market.

Date: 24 of September
Location: Auditorium 2, the Faculty of Law, UiB
Time: 12:00 – 16:00
Free entrance, but registration is mandatory. Please register here.
See event on the Energy Lab’s website…
Agenda

12:00 – 12:30: Welcome lunch
12:30 – 14.15: Session One – A practical look at electricity market developments

Anne Sofie Ravndal Risnes – Statnett’s adaption of new trends in the electricity industry (Stattnet)
Monika Zsak – Energimarked 2.0 and Tibber (BKK-Tibber)
Svein Harald Bjørlo – (Rambøll)

14:15 – 14:45: Coffee Break
14:45 – 16:00: Session Two – An academic look at electricity market developments

Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui – Regulation of aggregation of demand response in the Clean Energy Package (UiB)
Endre and Mette Bjørndal – Flexibility in the local grid: distributed generation, storage and demand response (NHH)
Closure of event

Download the presentation slides

Anne Sofie Ravndal Risnes
Monika Zsak
Svein Harald Bjørlo
Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui
Endre Bjørndal and Mette Bjørndal

Konferanse: Offentlig oppgavetyveri?
2018-09-07 09:00 - 13:00 | Auditorium 4, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5010, Norway
Skviser staten og kommuner private bedrifter fra markedet ved å kryssubsidiere sin økonomiske virksomhet, eller prøver de bare å løse sine oppgaver på best mulig måte? Kan tiltakene som er foreslått av arbeidsgruppen gi et dårligere tilbud til innbyggere eller skal de sikre at det private kan konkurrere på like vilkår? Fredag 7 september har vi gleden av å ivitere til konferansen “Offentlig opgpavetyveri?”, en konferanse om like konkurransevilkår mellom offentlig og privat virksomhet fra et norsk og dansk perspektiv.
Postdoktor Malgorzata Cyndecka innleder om den norske rapporten. Cyndecka var medlem av den norske arbeidsgruppen bak rapporten “Like konkurransevilkår for offentlige og private aktører”. Professor Karsten Naundrup Olesen fra København Universitet vil redegjøre for diskusjonen om like konkurransevilkår i Danmark. Den norske rapporten vil diskuteres av representanter for KS, Virke og Konkurransetilsynet.
Tid: Fredag 7. september, kl 9.00 – 13.00
Sted: Auditorium 4, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB
Innledere:

Malgorzata Cyndecka
Postdoktor, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, og BECCLE
Karsten Naundrup Olesen
Professor, Det Juridiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet

Presentasjoner:

Malgorzata Cyndecka: ‘Offentlig oppgavetyveri – Om like konkurransevilkår mellom offentlig of privat virksomhet fra et norsk og dansk perspektiv’
Jan Gaute Sannearnes: ‘På like vilkår – et samfunnsøkonomisk perspektiv’
Karsten Naundrup Olesen: ‘Offentlig markedsaktivitet i Danmark – debatten og reglerne’
Beatrice Dankertsen Hennyng: ‘Like konkurransevilkår for offentlige og private aktører – konsekvenser for kommunesektoren’

Program

Program “offentlig oppgavetyveri” 7. sept 2018

Materiale:

Ny rapport om like konkurransevilkår

Påmelding:
Konferansen gratis og åpen for alle. Påmelding per epost til Kristian Wederhus innen 4. september.
Felles søknad om godkjenning av etterutdanning for advokater kan sendes i etterkant av seminaret.

Bakgrunn:
Sommeren 2016 satte den norske regjeringen ned arbeidsgruppen «På like vilkår», som skulle foreslå tiltak som kan styrke konkurransen mellom det offentlige og det private. Bakgrunnen for opprettelsen av arbeidsgruppen var at EFTAs overvåkningsorgan (ESA) mener at det offentliges skattefritak og konkursimmunitet bryter med EU/EØS-regler om offentlig støtte når det offentlige driver «økonomisk aktivitet» i konkurranse med private markedsaktører.
Rapporten «Like konkurransevilkår for offentlige og private aktører» ble overlevert Nærings- og fiskeridepartementet 23. januar 2018. I rapporten vurderte arbeidsgruppen to løsninger for å tilpasse seg reglene om statsstøtte: Et regnskapsmessig skille mellom økonomisk og ikke-økonomisk aktivitet og utskilling av økonomisk aktivitet.
Det offentliges økonomiske aktivitet er uproblematisk så lenge staten eller kommuner driver på markedsmessige vilkår i henhold til det såkalte markedsaktørprinsippet (MEOP). MEOP innebærer at det offentlige handler på samme måte som en sammenlignbar, rasjonell og profittorientert markedsaktør ville ha gjort under lignende omstendigheter. Arbeidsgruppen flertall foreslår å innføre et nasjonalt tilsynsorgan, lagt til Konkurransetilsynet, som skal overvåke etterlevelsen av det såkalte markedsaktørprinsippet.
Rapporten ble sendt på høring før regjeringen skal ta stilling til ESAs foreløpige konklusjonen om at det offentliges skattefritak og konkursimmunitet utgjør ulovlig statsstøtte. Det er mye som står på spill både for det offentlige, som kan bli utsatt for en omfattende omorganisering, og det private, som forventer konkurranse på like vilkår.
Konkurransen mellom det private og det offentlige er også et tema i Danmark, hvor nasjonale regler om offentlig støtte er en del den danske konkurranseloven. Den danske regjeringen satte ned en tilsvarende arbeidsgruppe for å se nærmere på det som gjerne beskrives som «offentligt opgavetyveri». Rapporten skal være klar om noen uker.
Malgorzata CyndeckaPostdocDet juridiske Fakultet, UiB, og BECCLEKarsten Naundrup OlesenProfessorDet Juridiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet
Opptak:

The 4th BECCLE Competition Policy Conference, 11-12 June 2018
2018-06-11 - 2018-06-12 | Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Bergen, Dreggsallmenningen 1, Bergen, Hordaland, 5003, Norway
Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics (BECCLE) is pleased to announce its 4th annual competition policy conference on 11 and 12 June 2018 in Bergen, Norway.
The conference will bring together leading and upcoming scholars doing both empirical and theoretical research on competition policy and industrial organization.
Download the conference program...

Date:11 and 12 June
Venue: Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Bergen
If you want to participate at the conference, or if you have any further questions, please send an e-mail to Teis Lunde Lømo
Organizing Committee:

Tommy Staahl Gabrielsen
Bjørn Olav Johansen
Teis Lunde Lømo
Simen Aardal Ulsaker

BECCLE Seminar: Damages for breach of Public Procurement Law - Fosen-Linjen AS v AtB AS and its implications
2018-03-01 10:15 - 14:30 | Auditorium 3, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Norway
BECCLE has the pleasure of inviting to a half day seminar on damages caused by breach of Public Procurement law and a look at the EFTA Court’s judgment in Fosen-Linjen AS v AtB AS and its implications.
October 31 2017, the EFTA Court handed its Advisory Opinion in Case E-16/16 Fosen-Linjen AS v AtB AS regarding the award of contractual damages arising from breaches of EU/EEA public procurement. According to the EFTA Court’s advisory opinion, a simple breach of public procurement law is in itself sufficient to trigger the liability of the contracting authority to compensate the person harmed – if other conditions are met. The opinion appears to contradict established Norwegian and EU case law, and, therefore, has created plenty of interest.
In this seminar, we will discuss the Court’s advisory opinion regarding whether, under EU/EEA law, any breach gives right to damages, if there is a requirement of ‘seriousness’, and what the burden of proof necessary to successfully claim positive contractual interest is (lucrus cessans).
Time and Place:
Thursday 1 March, 10.15 – 14.30
Auditorium 3, Faculty of Law, UoB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1.
Registration:
The seminar is free and open to the public, though registration is required. A light lunch will be served.
Registration is now closed. Please contact BECCLE if you have any questions.
For Norwegian lawyers: Felles søknad om godkjenning av etterutdanning for advokater kan sendes i etterkant av seminaret.
Recording:

A recording of the seminar is available here…

Presentations:

Dag Sørlie Lund: Norwegian Law and Practice on Damages arising from Public Procurement Breaches BEFORE Fosen Linjen, and the changes it entails
Kirsi-Maria Halonen: A Comparative Approach to Damages Arising from Public Procument: Finland and Sweden
Albert Sanchez-Graells: Approaches to the ‘seriousness’ of the breach: The EFTA Court vs the UK Supreme Court
Halvard Haukeland Fredriksen: After Fosen-Linjen: Rethinking the Norwegian approach to damages for breach of public procurement law?

Materials:

The EFTA Court’s Advisory Opinion of 31 October 2017 in Case E-16/16 Fosen-Linjen AS v AtB AS (EN)…
The EFTA Court’s Advisory Opinion of 31 October 2017 in Case E-16/16 Fosen-Linjen AS v AtB AS (NO)…
Report for the Hearing in Case E-16/16 Fosen-Linjen AS v AtB AS (EN)…
Halvard H. Fredriksen and Finn Arnesen, “EFTA-domstolens uttalelse om erstatningsansvar for brudd på anskaffelsesreglene – hvor står vi nå?”, on Anbud365.no…

Agenda:

10.00 – 10.15: Meet & Greet – coffee and cake
10.15 – 10.20: Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui – Introduction and greeting
10.20 – 11.10: Dag Sørlie Lund – “The Norwegian law and practice on damages arising from public procurement breaches before Fosen-Linjen AS v AtB AS, and what has it changed.”
11.10 – 12.00: Kirsi-Maria Halonen – “A comparative approach to damages: The Finnish and Swedish practice on damages arising from public procurement breaches.”
12.00 – 12.45: Lunch break
12.45 – 13.35: Albert Sánchez Graells – “Approaches to the ‘seriousness’ of the breach: The EFTA Court vs the UK Supreme Court.”
13.35 – 14.15: Halvard Haukeland Fredriksen – “Norway after the Fosen-Linjen AS v AtB AS case: What is to be expected and what are its repercussions – here and elsewhere.”

Speakers:
Dag Sørlie LundLawyerAdvokatfirmaet Hjort DAKirsi-Maria HalonenLecturer in Commercial LawFaculty of Law, University of LaplandAlbert Sanchez Graells Reader in Economic LawUniversity of Bristol Law SchoolHalvard Haukeland FredriksenProfessor and Dean of StudiesFaculty of Law, University of Bergen, and
Norwegian Complaint Board for Public Procurement

BECCLE Seminar: Local Market Structure and Consumer Prices: Evidence from a Retail Merger
2018-02-20 14:15 - 15:30 | Auditorium 2, Juridisk Fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, 5050, Norway
BECCLE has the pleasure of inviting to a seminar with Dennis Rickert on the effects of mergers and remedies in local markets.
Time and Place:
Tuesday 20 February, 14.15 – 15.30.
Auditorium 2, Faculty of Law, UoB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1.
The seminar is free and open to the public. The seminar will be held in English.
Materials:
Download paper...
On the topic:
In a recent paper, “Local Market Structure and Consumer Prices: Evidence from a Retail Merger“, Schain, Stiebale, and Rickert analyse the effects of a merger between a German supermarket chain and a soft discounter on consumer prices. Their findings indicate that both insiders and outsiders raised avarage prices after the merger, particularly in regions with high expected change in retail concentration. In contrast, they estimate price declines in regions that did not experience a rise in concentration but were poentially affected by the cost savings within the merged entity. They also provide evidence that remedies imposed by competition authorities were not sufficient to offset anti-competitive effects.
Norwegian summary:
Effektene av fusjoner og avhjelpende tiltak er ofte usikre og vanskelige å vurdere på forhånd, særlig når fusjonen involverer mange markeder og ukjente kostnadsbesparelser. I en ny forskningsartikkel analyserer Rickert (og medforfattere) effektene av en tysk dagligvarefusjon. De finner at kostnadsbesparelser er reelle og at de påvirker prisene etter fusjonen. Samtidig finner de at effektivitetsgevinstene sammen med de avhjelpende tiltakene ikke var nok til å unngå konkurranseskade i lokale markeder der fusjonen førte til en økning i markedskonsentrasjonen.
Speakers:
Dennis RickertPostdoctoral Research FellowToulouse School of Economics

BECCLE-seminar: Konkurranse på like vilkår?
2018-02-12 14:15 - 16:00 | Auditorium 3, Det juridiske fakultet, UiB, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Bergen, Norway
BECCLE har gleden av å innvitere til et seminar om den nye rapporten “Like konkurransevilkår for offentlige og private akterer”.
Den eksterne arbeidsgruppen som har vurdert konkurranseforholdene mellom offentlig og privat virksomhet på oppdrag fra Kommunal- og moderniseringsdepartementet. Arbeidsgruppen har vurdert tiltak for å sikre like konkurransevilkår mellom offentlig og privat virksomhet. Rapporten har vakt betydelig debatt etter at den ble presentert.
Til å innlede om arbeidsgruppens rapport og konklusjoner kommer utvalgsleder og professor Erling Hjelmeng (Universitetet i Oslo). Det blir kommentarer fra professor Kjell Erik Lommerud (Universitetet i Bergen) og Konkurransedirektør Lars Sørgard.
Tid: Mandag 12. Februar kl 14:15-16:00
Sted: Auditorium 3, Juridisk fakultet, Universitetet i Bergen
Seminaret er åpent og gratis for alle alle interesserte.

Presentasjoner:

Erling Hjelmeng: Like vilkår – presentasjon av arbeidsgruppens rapport
Last ned presentasjon...

Lars Sørgard: Like konkurransevilkår
Last ned presentasjon...

Kjell Erik Lommerud: Like vilkår?
Last ned presentasjon...

Seminaret ble strømmet på nett.
Se opptak av seminaret her...

Innledere og kommentatorer:
Erling HjelmengProfessor og studiedekanInstitutt for privatrett, Det juridiske fakultet, Universitetet i OsloKjell Erik LommerudProfessorInstitutt for økonomi, Universitetet i BergenLars SørgardKonkurransedirektørKonkurransetilsynet

Hotel rankings of online travel agents, channel pricing and consumer protection.
2018-02-08 12:45 - 14:00 | Seminar room 327, Department of Economics, UoB, Herman Foss gt. 6, Bergen, Hordaland, 5007, Norway
BECCLE has the pleasure to invite to a seminar with Matthias Hunold on the topic “Hotel rankings of online travel agents, channel pricing and consumer protection”.
Time and Place:
Thursday February 8th, 12:45-14:00
Seminar room 327, Department of Economics, UoB, Herman Foss gt. 6
The seminar is free and open to the public.The seminar will be held in English.
On the topic
This seminar adds to BECCLEs recent focus on the online market for hotels in which platforms such as Hotels.com, Booking.com and Expedia are major players.
Matthias and his coauthors summarize their current research as follows:
“We investigate whether online travel agents (OTAs) assign hotels worse positions in their search results if these set lower hotel prices at other OTAs or on their own websites. We formally characterize how such a strategy can be used by an OTA to reduce price differentiation across distribution channels. Our empirical analysis shows that the position of a hotel in the search results of OTAs is better when the prices charged by the hotel on other channels are higher. This is consistent with the hypothesis that OTAs bias their search results to discipline hotels for aggressive prices on competing channels, and by this reduce search quality for consumers.”
Speaker:
Matthias HunoldAssistant ProfessorDüsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE)
