Compliance

As a neutral service provider for our member companies, we strictly follow national and international competition law. Together we stand up for the maintenance and safeguarding of fair competition. Our work in the association is guided by our antitrust guidelines.

The applicable antitrust law is of paramount importance for our association’s work. In a nutshell: Not only concrete agreements (so-called hardcore cartels) are prohibited, but also the exchange of information sensitive to competition law. Very good materials on this subject (information brochures, case reports) are available online directly from the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt, www.bundeskartellamt.de). In this context, we draw particular attention to the authority’s publication “Effective Cartel Prosecution”.

Important for our current and potential member companies: The coming together of competing companies at association level is not prohibited, but may be desirable if the currently valid (competition) law permissible rules are observed.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, clearly positioned himself in favour of functioning associations in 2018 with the essay „VERBANDSARBEIT UND WETTBEWERBSRECHT SIND GUT VEREINBAR“ (translation: Association work and competition law are well compatible) with the core statement:

“DEUTSCHES UND EUROPÄISCHES KARTELLRECHT LASSEN BREITEN RAUM FÜR KOOPERATIONSMÖGLICHKEITEN UND EINEN INFORMATIONSAUSTAUSCH INNERHALB VON VERBÄNDEN.“
(translation: GERMAN AND EUROPEAN ANTITRUST LAW LEAVE AMPLE SCOPE FOR COOPERATION AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE WITHIN ASSOCIATIONS…)

Source: Bundeskartellamt