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The Competition Council organized, this Wednesday, November 13, 2024, at the Jaal Riad Resort in Marrakech, an international conference on the theme: “Competitive Neutrality and Market Access”. This conference aims to open a public debate on ways to promote a balanced market environment, allowing fair participation of all stakeholders.
The theme of competitive neutrality and market access is particularly important and relevant in the global economic context, where the activities of public enterprises raise crucial competition-related issues, such as competitive neutrality, their relationship with the State, and the challenges this poses for competition law. Furthermore, the issue of public markets represents a dual challenge, consisting of finding a balance between compliance with competition rules and the efficiency of public spending.
This conference brought together representatives of regulatory authorities, economic and social actors, as well as national, international, and regional institutions and organizations concerned with issues of competitive neutrality, in addition to experts and specialists in related fields.
Speakers addressed key themes during this conference. The first axis of discussion focused on public enterprises in the face of competitive neutrality, where speakers examined the role of the public sector as an exceptional player in the market and its specificity in terms of competition rules. Topics such as exemptions, the concept of the general interest, as well as state aid, price setting, or supply subsidies were also discussed.
The second axis addressed the issue of regulated professions between competition and regulation, with discussions on the status of the regulation of professions, entry barriers, reform policies adopted in recent years, as well as the impacts of technological developments on regulation.
The third axis highlighted the interactions between competition authority and sectoral regulators, where speakers examined the missions and institutional configurations of these bodies, as well as issues of jurisdictional conflicts, cooperation, and harmonization of decisions.
Finally, in the axis dedicated to access to public markets between competition requirements and spending efficiency, speakers addressed fully private, regulated, and public markets, the purchasing processes of major buyers, as well as international exchanges within the framework of public procurement agreements and the World Trade Organization, and anti-competitive practices in procurement.
This conference highlighted the progress made in this field, the challenges faced by stakeholders, and encouraged the exchange of best practices to design economic governance in the service of citizens, businesses, and states.
Marrakech, November 13, 2024
