Budapest, 20 October 2023 - At this year's annual conference of the International Competition Network (ICN) in Barcelona, it was announced that Csaba Balázs Rigó, President of the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH), has been chosen as an elected member of the organisation's Steering Group. This is the first time that a member from the Central and Eastern European region has been elected to the prominent competition body.
The International Competition Network (ICN) was established in 2001. Its aim is to provide an informal forum for competition authorities around the world to share experiences and practices and to discuss current trends and changes in competition policy. Currently, the organisation is made up of national competition authorities from 141 countries.
The ICN's two main areas of work are practical cooperation, exchange of views, and setting strategic directions. The former takes place in working groups covering the whole field of competition law and policy. The GVH is currently a member and co-chair of the Agency Effectiveness Working Group (AEWG). The main forum for setting strategic directions is the Steering Group (SG).
In 2021, the Hungarian Competition Authority had the honour of hosting the organisation's annual conference. As a result, the President of the Hungarian Competition Authority has become a temporary member (ex officio membership) of the governing body (Steering Group) for three years. This has now become an elected membership following the decision taken at the ICN Annual Conference in Barcelona this week.
Andreas Mundt, Chairman of the ICN’s Steering Group and the President of the German Federal Competition Authority (Bundeskartellamt), said that "the elected membership is a recognition of the work of the Competition Authority over the past years." He also pointed out that "the Hungarian Competition Authority is a very active member of the International Competition Network, organised a very successful virtual annual conference in 2021, and is very active in both the working groups and the Steering Group."
Csaba Balázs Rigó, thanking for the recognition, emphasised that "the GVH places great emphasis on international cooperation, with a focus on knowledge sharing. We strive to learn and apply international best practices in our work, to share our experience widely and to promote the reputation of Hungarian competition law and Hungary around the world. With the elected membership, we will have new opportunities to do this.
With the elected membership, the President of the GVH sits on a panel with the heads of competition authorities from the United States, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, France, Italy, Spain, Korea, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Singapore, Portugal, Mexico, South Africa, and Kenya. It is also noteworthy that no competition authority from our region has yet been an elected member of the governing body.
GVH Public Service Communications Section
Further information:
Bálint Horváth, Head of Communication +36 20 238 6939
Katalin Gondolovics, Spokesperson +36 30 603 1170