13 April 2021, Budapest – The topics of this year’s Hungarian Competition Law Forum were the competition law issues of today and the sweeping changes that occurred in the operation of the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH), which was established 30 years ago. The guest of honour at the online event was Judit VARGA, Minister of Justice of Hungary.
The GVH and the Hungarian Competition Law Association have jointly organised the Hungarian Competition Law Forum for the fourth time. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual professional conference was held online this time around.
The event was opened by Judit VARGA, Minister of Justice, followed by the welcome speeches of Csaba Balázs RIGÓ, President of the GVH, and Zoltán HEGYMEGI-BARAKONYI, President of the Hungarian Competition Law Association. Among others, the key competition law issues of today, the experience gained by the GVH over the course of three decades, and the changes that have occurred in the operation of the Authority were discussed at the conference.
Olivier GUERSENT, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, shared his thoughts in the form of a video message and talked about competition policy and the challenges of tomorrow in his presentation. The Director-General welcomed that Hungary was the first among the Member States to transpose Directive 2019/1/EU (ECN+) into its national legislation. Afterwards, András TÓTH, Vice-President of the GVH and President of the Competition Council, discussed the recent experiences with digital markets, accompanied by a panel discussion summarising the fight against cartels over the course of the past 30 years. Finally, consumer protection was also on the agenda, which reviewed the thirty-year practice of the GVH.
GVH Press Office