The Hungarian Competition Authority is active in several international working groups
Budapest, 31 July 2025 - The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) considers active and constructive participation in international professional cooperation to be one of its focus areas. In this spirit, it is a member of several international organisations and working groups. In April 2025, the GVH organised the biannual International Competition Network (ICN) Chief and Senior Economist Workshop in Budapest. The event has received widespread professional appreciation for both the quality of the organisation and the professional contents.
The Hungarian Competition Authority has an extensive network of international partners at regional, European and global level as well. The aim of the GVH is to be a major player in the exchange of knowledge and experience between competition authorities and thereby build Hungary’s international reputation as well as to ensure the highest possible professional quality and utilization of its work.
The GVH is an active member of several international organisations, including several working groups. In particular:
- It co-chairs the Cooperation Issues and Due Process Working Group within the framework of the European Competition Network (ECN).
- In the International Competition Network (ICN), it was co-chair of the Agency Effectiveness Working Group from 2022 to 2025, and was elected co-chair of the Cartel Working Group for the next three-year period. The President of the GVH has also been a permanent member of the ICN Steering Group since 2023.
- In total, the GVH is a member of three different working groups ("Finance of the Future", "Misleading green claims" and "Online marketing") of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), the largest international umbrella organisation of consumer authorities.
As part of its international engagement, the GVH also organises a number of international conferences and workshops. Through the Regional Centre for Competition in Budapest (a joint venture with the OECD), the GVH has been a key player in the exchange of expertise in the region for 20 years. In April 2025, the GVH hosted the ICN’s biannual Chief and Senior Economist Workshop, which addressed the current challenges in the economics of competition policy, led by renowned academics.
Based on feedback from the participants, the workshop was a great success from both an organisational and a professional point of view. The experts praised the quality of the information provided before and during the workshop, and were satisfied with the facilities at the venue (GVH headquarters) as well as the length of the workshop. The relevance and presentation of the topics were also commended.
The GVH also measures the effectiveness of its enforcement activities. Since 2012, the economists of the GVH have regularly (every two years) estimated the welfare gains of the GVH’s activities. The results of the impact assessment, covering the period between 2019 and 2024, show that the Hungarian Competition Authority has generated a welfare benefit of HUF 112,843 million for the Hungarian consumers. This is 2.5 times the amount of its budget for the same period.
It is important to note that these figures are very conservative estimates and do not include more general benefits such as the positive impact of market competition on competitiveness or the effect of deterrence. Moreover, due to limitations in methodology, the calculations do not include the benefits of the GVH’s consumer protection cases.
GVH Press
Further information:
Bálint Horváth, Head of Communication +36 20 238 6939
Katalin Gondolovics, Spokesperson +36 30 603 1170