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Read the OECD Background Note

Standards in competition policy have been the subject of much debate. Often these discussions focus on a jurisdiction’s legislative history and what this infers the prevailing standard to be. Rather than seeking to address the question of what standard should be applied in competition law enforcement. Iin June 2023, the OECD held a roundtable discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of the consumer welfare standard compared to alternative standards. This roundtable sought to understand the trade-offs that any particular standard requires and tried to tackle:

• What standards are available and how should these be defined?
• What are the attributes that an ideal standard should exhibit, such as legal certainty and predictability, ability to make society better overall, ease of administrability, democratic credibility or legitimacy etc?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the consumer welfare standard compared to alternatives given these attributes?
• How do different jurisdictions balance these advantages and disadvantages?

Key findings from the June 2023 discussion

Participating delegations shared different views on the importance of standards, although it was widely accepted that they interact closely with the evidentiary threshold. There was no agreement on the most appropriate standard for competition law, although it was noted that the main alternatives appear to be a protecting competition standard or a broader standard incorporating a wide set of considerations. Different standards with a mix of attributes are in use across jurisdictions, and some jurisdictions operate under more than one standard. The discussion noted that standards need to take into account societal context, and that this context may lead to a different choice of standard, depending upon how a jurisdiction values different attributes.

2024 OECD COMPETITION OPEN DAY EXPLORES THE CONSUMER WELFARE STANDARD IN ENFORCEMENT DECISIONS

The topic will again be explored again on 6 March 2024 during the 2024 OECD Competition Open Day, an event open to the public. Learn more about it and register now to attend in person or online!

 See the full list of best practice roundtables on competition

Anna Gerbrandy Bio  
Full Professor of Competition Law at Utrecht University

Nicolas Petit Bio  
Professor of Competition Law, European University Institute

Carl Shapiro Bio  
Professor, University of California, Berkeley

OECD Background Note l Note de référence de l'OCDE

Detailed Summary of the discussion EN | FR

Executive Summary with key findings EN | FR

Contributions from participating delegations

The Goals of Competition Policy (2022)

Competition policy: Time for a reset? (2020)

Competition under fire (2019)

Purchasing Power and Buyers' Cartels (2022)

Sustainability and competition (2020) 

OECD best practice roundtables on competition

More OECD work on competition