interview in French

Concurrences
Revue des droits de la concurrence
Mary-Claude Mitchell:
A new chair for the LIDC
Interview l Concurrences N° 4-2010
Mary-Claude MITCHELL
[email protected]
Avocat à la Cour
Mary-Claude MITCHELL
[email protected]
Avocat à la Cour
Mary-Claude MITCHELL:
A new chair for the LIDC
You have just been elected to chair the International League of Competition Law
(Ligue Internationale du Droit de la Concurrence – LIDC). You are the first woman
to hold this position. Can you come back on your background, career and prior
involvement in the League?
Since 2003
Partner with LPLG law firm
2000 – 2003
Sole practice
1989 – 1996
Lecturer in European Competition
Law University Paris I
Panthéon – Sorbonne
1980 – 2000
Associate then partner with
Robert Collin law firm, Paris
1979
Master II degree in European
and international law – University
Panthéon – Sorbonne, Paris
After English and law studies, I started my career as associate, then partner of Robert
Collin, a reputable lawyer in the fields of competition and intellectual property laws.
As I mentioned during my election speech, Robert “pushed me into the League”,
where I was successively national then international reporter, General Reporter,
Vice-President, before accepting becoming its – for the first time a woman – President.
As regards my present practice, I joined in 2003 LPLG Avocats, a human size firm,
where I advise French and foreign clients in the fields of competition, distribution
and consumer law.
During the last decade, competition networks and associations gatherings
have boomed, especially those built around specific individual communities
(e.g. lawyers, competition authorities). How do you see the role and added value of
the League in today’s competition world?
One of the aims of the League consists in producing, at the end of each Congress,
resolutions then sent to national and international legislative and administrative
authorities, on points on which evolutions seem advisable. In this respect, the
specificity of the LIDC, it seems to me, is three-fold:
J First of all, the participants in our Congress are academics, lawyers, in-house
counsels, economists as well as Judges and members of competition authorities.
This enables our discussions to take into account many viewpoints, and thus to have
a global approach of the questions at issue.
J Secondly, the international reports established on the questions discussed during
the Congress are based on numerous national reports (12 for the question on RPM,
and 13 for the question on comparative advertisement this year in Bordeaux).
This again enables us to take into consideration legislation as well as experience
from many countries, inside and outside Europe, such as Japan, the US and Brazil.
J Last but not least, the LIDC slogan “LIDC: where competition and IP meet”
accounts for the focus we wish to make on the inter-relationship between competition
and intellectual property law.
In your election speech, you have mentioned your project to expand the League’s
membership, in particular with regard to the USA. Can you tell us why going global
is one of your priorities?
Simply because globalization is a reality, which any international organization
aiming at influencing current regulations has to take into account.
This implies that we do not limit to an European-centered vision and turn to the
other sides of the world, in particular to the USA, unavoidable when speaking of
competition law. We are happy, in this respect, to have welcomed 160 participants
from 17 different countries in Bordeaux.
The League has also recently amended its Constitution to integrate individual
members besides State-based organizations. What are the reasons for this change?
The League is a federation of national associations. According to its statutes, any
national association having 10 or more members can become a national group of
the League. We see the integration of individual members as a first step towards
Concurrences N° 4-2010 I Interview I Mary-Claude MITCHELL : A new chair for the LIDC
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Interview
Other organizations are going through a similar process
of expanding beyond their initial current constituency
or building further bridges between themselves and
other communities. For instance, the ICN (International
Competition Network) has appointed two dedicated officers
in charge of stimulating outreach on the one hand and
liaising with non-governmental authorities (NGAs) on the
other. What are the League’s views on these initiatives?
We of course fully agree in the necessity of the process.
It is the tradition of the League to have close links with
other scientific or professional organizations, such as the
Max Planck Institute (through the participation of Frauke
Henning-Bodewig in our Scientific Committee), or the IBA,
through the organization of common events.
It is the tradition of the League to
have close links with other scientific
or professional organizations
I will indeed move forward and try to formalize institutional
links especially with the ICN, the ALAI and WIPO. A meeting
will be held next week between WIPO representatives and
a delegation of members of the LIDC Bureau and Scientific
Committee.
The League’s work is centered on a yearly Congress
focused on two topics raising important “philosophical” and
policy issues, as well as legal issues (RPM and comparative
advertisement vs. intellectual property in 2010). How does
the League make sure that it addresses these topics in a
way that will achieve the greatest possible added value on
the marketplace of competition ideas?
Before addressing the topics, we have to make sure that their
selection fits in with actuality, expected evolutions of legal
rules, and/or controversial questions. This is the part played
by the LIDC Scientific Committee, composed of reputable
lawyers and economists. We then rely on high quality national
and international reports, which usually enable more than
lively debates to take place on the proposed resolutions
prepared by the international reporters. At the end of the day,
the LIDC General Assembly, composed of the representatives
of the national groups attending the Congress, is invited to
vote on the resolutions, which will then be circulated to the
national and international competent authorities.
In the coming months, the League will be working hard in
order to make sure that its forthcoming Oxford Congress
is will be as successful as those of Vienna (2009) and
Bordeaux (2010). Can you tell us more about that?
The Oxford Congress will take place from September 22 to
24, 2011. The keys of its success lie:
J First on the topics selected by the Scientific Committee:
one on antitrust fines, the other on e-commerce, i.e. two “hot”
subjects on which the LIDC indeeds may put proposals on
the table;
J on the comparative study prepared by the international
reporters;
J Last, on the conviviality and friendship which characterize
the LIDC Congresses. The organizing groups traditionally
make a point of offering a warm welcome to the participants
in a well-chosen location and this, I am sure, also is a key for
attracting new regular participants.
The League’s unique membership enables it to match senior
academics, lawyers and enforcers, but also more junior
people. How does the idea of building on current experience
and vision in order to prepare tomorrow fit in your agenda
as chair of the League?
The question, if I understand it well, is how the junior fit in
the system. One other specificity of the LIDC is indeed that
more and more young participants attend our Congresses,
this being made possible by the attractive registration fees
offered to them. Besides bringing a cheerful atmosphere in
our Congresses’ gala dinners, the young members of the
League provide a significant contribution to the quality of
our scientific works.
Competition law is a
“mal nécessaire”
Many of them accept the responsibility of preparing
national and sometimes international reports (e.g. this year,
Elisabeth Eklund, from Sweden, who was really impressive
on the RPM question). They moreover established last year
national caselaw records on the same topic, gathered in a
publication on e-competition under the responsibility of
Nicolas Charbit, Guillaume Taillandier and Prof. Nicolas
Petit. We rely on them, since they will tomorrow convey the
founding principles of the League.
On a more personal note, how do you view the role
of competition law and policy in today’s troubled and
globalised economies?
I am and remain attached to the freedom of markets and
of economy. For instance, distribution networks, adapted to
the products concerned, should stay under the full control
of the suppliers. One should trust the economic actors, who
know their markets and adapt to them, and not see in any
decision an abuse or in any discussion an anticompetitive
practice. As a lawyer, I also always pay attention to the
respect of the fundamental principles, such as the rights of
defence or fairness in the search of evidence. However, the
functioning of the market must not become the “lax of the
jungle”, which implies some sort of control, in particular on
monopolistic or oligopolistic market. I am also convinced of
the necessity of preserving a multiplicity of economic actors,
including small-sized industries or businesses, essential to
the welfare of workers and consumers, in terms of social
links and proximity. This is the reason why, in other words,
competition law is a “mal nécessaire”.
Q
Concurrences N° 4-2010 I Interview I Mary-Claude MITCHELL : A new chair for the LIDC
www.concurrences.com
Ce document est protégé au titre du droit d'auteur par les conventions internationales en vigueur et le Code de la propriété intellectuelle du 1er juillet 1992. Toute utilisation non autorisée constitue une contrefaçon, délit pénalement sanctionné jusqu'à 3 ans d'emprisonnement et 300 000 € d'amende
(art. L. 335-2 CPI). L’utilisation personnelle est strictement autorisée dans les limites de l’article L. 122 5 CPI et des mesures techniques de protection pouvant accompagner ce document. This document is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties. Non-authorised use of this document
constitutes a violation of the publisher's rights and may be punished by up to 3 years imprisonment and up to a € 300 000 fine (Art. L. 335-2 Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle). Personal use of this document is authorised within the limits of Art. L 122-5 Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle and DRM protection.
the creation of new national groups. This is the reason why we
amended our statutes, in order to define the conditions under
which individual members will be able to join the League.
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