Competition authorities rarely consider democracy in their day-to-day functioning, yet the notion that competition is important for the maintenance of a healthy democracy was a core part of the motivation for introducing antitrust laws in some jurisdictions.
In December 2024, the OECD held a best practice roundtable on "The interaction between competition and democracy" to explore the link between these two policy areas. This page contains all session information and materials.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Shared values - Competition and democracy share many values and are linked by concerns that ineffective competition contributes to the accumulation of economic power that poses risks to democracy.
- Independent and transparent authorities - The discussion emphasised the importance of independent and transparent competition authorities as part of building trust in public institutions.
- Enforcement benefits - Finally, while democracy was not directly considered in competition enforcement decisions often, enforcement may benefit democracy indirectly and could be supported through prioritisation.
A detailed summary of the discussion and an executive summary with key findings will be issued in 2025.
