International Cooperation and the Role of Multilateral Organisations: the Italian Experience

This unit was published in „International Cooperation of Competition Authorities in Europe: from Bilateral Agreements to Transgovernmental Networks” Błachucki, M., ed., (2020)

In the last five years, opportunities for cooperation among competition authorities, both within regional networks and internationally, have increased considerably, involving even those authorities that were not exposed to this type of activity. In the author’s view, and from his experience at the Italian Competition Authority (the AGCM), mutual trust and familiarity are necessary ingredients for successful coordination and cooperation, even in the presence of legal instruments facilitating the exchange of information with, and/or investigatory assistance from, other cooperating authorities. Therefore, it is argued that, in a world where regional networks and bilateral agreements are of growing importance, multilateral organisations such as the ICN can still play an important role in boosting confidence and trust among competition authorities and developing tailored and cost-effective tools for cooperation.