Csaba Balázs Rigó was re-elected to the Steering Group, and among other things, drew attention to the importance of taking action against inflation
Budapest, 9 May 2025 – The International Competition Network (ICN) held its traditional annual conference in Edinburgh on May 7-9, with Csaba Balázs Rigó, President of the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH), among the participants and speakers. During the conference, the membership of the President of the GVH in the ICN Steering Group was reinforced. In addition, the Hungarian Competition Authority was elected co-chair of the Cartel Working Group.
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 2025 annual conference was held in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. During the event, participants discussed all aspects of competition policy. GVH experts spoke at several sessions; Botond Horváth, Head of the Cartel Section, shared his experiences of cross-border cooperation in cartel investigations, while Csaba Kovács, Deputy-Head of the Competition Economics and Market Research Section, presented a study analysing the consumer impact of the temporary market opening in the Covid-19 rapid self-test retail distribution.
The Hungarian Competition Authority is an active member of the ICN and held the position of co-chair of the Agency Effectiveness Working Group (AEWG) for the 2022-25 cycle. In recognition of its work, the GVH has been elected co-chair of the Cartel Working Group (CWG) for the next three-year cycle, which it will hold jointly with the competition authorities of the United Kingdom, India and New Zealand. The Hungarian Competition Authority also remains an active member of the AEWG and chairs its economics sub-group.
Speaking at the international conference, Csaba Balázs Rigó emphasized: "The past few years have brought many challenges for agriculture, the food industry, and the retail sector. In a period of rapid food inflation, competition authorities have also faced new, unconventional challenges." He underlined: "We have a duty to do all we can to support economic growth and price stability with the tools at our disposal, in particular by stimulating competition."
Based on a decision by the Hungarian government, the online price monitoring system operated by the GVH has been available since July 1, 2023. In addition, the Hungarian Competition Authority has conducted several investigations and is currently conducting two accelerated sectoral inquiries in the food markets. The results of these investigations will be shared at international level within the framework of the ICN's Food Special Project.
At the annual meeting, the ICN Steering Group members were elected again, with Csaba Balázs Rigó's membership since 2021 being reaffirmed. As a member, the President of the GVH sits alongside the heads of competition authorities from countries such as the United States, Australia, Germany, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, the Philippines, France, Italy, Spain, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, Singapore, Portugal, Mexico, the Republic of South Africa and Kenya. The president of the Hungarian Competition Authority is the only elected member of the ICN Steering Group from our region.
GVH Press
Further information:
Bálint Horváth, Head of Communication +36 20 238 6939
Katalin Gondolovics, Spokesperson +36 30 603 1170