The Annual CRA Brussels Conference, returning on Tuesday, 8 December 2026, at the Steigenberger Wiltcher’s Hotel, will bring together leading antitrust enforcers, academics, and practitioners for incisive debates on the future of competition policy. This year’s focus – from policy to practice – explores how the new competition architecture is taking shape. The programme will cover merger control, antitrust enforcement, digital regulation, private litigation, and more.
Welcome address
- Margaret Sanderson – Vice President and Practice Leader, Charles River Associates
Keynote and Fireside chat with EVP Teresa Ribera
- Teresa Ribera – Executive Vice-President, European Commission
- Raphaël De Coninck – Vice President, Charles River Associates
Spotlight Session: Copyright meets AI: policy choices, licensing and litigation
Courts around the world are grappling with a growing wave of AI-related copyright disputes, while policymakers debate how creators should be compensated and which licensing models can best support both innovation and creativity. This panel explores emerging policy choices, their implications for creators, AI developers, and consumers and the key litigation trends.
- Renate Nikolay – Deputy Director-General, European Commission (DG CNCT)
- Christian Peukert – Professor of Digitization, Innovation and Intellectual Property, HEC Lausanne
- Elke Schwager – Presiding Judge, Munich I Regional Court
- Benno Buehler – Vice President, Charles River Associates
Fireside chat with Andreas Mundt
In this candid conversation, Andreas Mundt reflects on the ideas, institutions, and challenges that have shaped modern competition policy over the past two decades. The discussion will look back at key developments while considering the opportunities and uncertainties that lie ahead.
- Andreas Mundt – President, Bundeskartellamt
- Lars Wiethaus – Vice President, Charles River Associates
Panel 1: From compass to course: charting the future of merger control
As merger control enters a new phase, what will the next generation of enforcement look like? This panel brings together leading economists and competition authorities to explore how the new framework may shape merger assessment in practice. From evolving economic tools to emerging theories of harm and practical enforcement challenges, the discussion will look beyond the guidelines to the future direction of merger control.
- Juan José Ganuza – President, Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC)
- Penny Goldberg – Professor of Economics and Global Affairs, Yale University
- Natalie Harsdorf – Director General, Federal Competition Authority (AFCA)
- Guillaume Loriot – Deputy Director-General for Mergers, DG Competition, European Commission
- Luke Woodward – Commissioner, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
- Elina Koustoumpardi – Vice President, Charles River Associates
Fireside chat with Anthony Whelan
Anthony Whelan joins us for a timely discussion on the forces reshaping competition policy in Europe. The conversation will examine the practical challenges facing competition authorities and what the next chapter of EU enforcement may look like.
- Anthony Whelan – Director-General, European Commission (DG COMP)
- Fiona Scott Morton – Professor, Yale University
Spotlight Session: EU Merger Guidelines: current approaches and future directions
The European Commission’s ongoing review of its Merger Guidelines presents a pivotal opportunity to reassess how competition authorities evaluate transactions in rapidly evolving markets. In this session, speakers will explore the key themes emerging from the review, compare them with established US merger enforcement practices, and discuss the lessons each jurisdiction can draw from the other. The discussion will examine issues including: innovation and dynamic competition, non-vertical mergers, efficiencies and risks to regulatory independence. Attendees will gain insights into how revised guidance is likely to shape merger assessments and deal strategy on both sides of the Atlantic.
- Ted Rosenbaum – Acting Director, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission
- Emanuele Tarantino – Chief Competition Economist, European Commission (DG Comp)
- Matthew Bennett – Vice President, Charles River Associates
Spotlight Session: Blowing the whistle? Competition policy and sport
With more money in sport than ever, there is growing interaction with competition policy. Competitive sport inevitably requires centrally set rules, but when does the need for a governing body spill over into anticompetitive conduct? And what does economics tell us about the relationship between competition on and off the pitch?
- Juliane Kokott – Advocate General at the Court of Justice, European Union (Luxembourg)
- Stefan Szymanski – Emeritus Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan
- Oliver Latham – Vice President, Charles River Associates
Panel 2: Rethinking abuse cases: what is the “dominant” view?
The approach to abuse of dominance cases is changing. While courts issue their views on long-standing controversies and interventions, agencies are developing new frameworks to think through evidence and conducts. The Commission’s revised 102 guidelines advocate for a shift in the definition of competition on the merits and on what is required to preserve competition and contestability. The panel will explore recent cases, judgments, and policies to understand how antitrust enforcement is shaping up for the years to come.
- Elisabetta Iossa – Commissioner, Italian Competition Authority (AGCM)
- Johannes Laitenberger – Judge, General Court of the European Union
- Linsey McCallum – Deputy Director-General for Antitrust, DG Competition, European Commission
- Massimo Motta – Research Professor, ICREA-Universitat Pompeu Fabra & Barcelona School of Economics (BSE)
- Steven Tadelis – Professor of Economics, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
- Matteo Foschi – Vice President, Charles River Associates
Panel 3: Digital Regulation: what the evidence shows, what new technologies change
Two years of enforcement have produced a substantial body of decisions, remedies, and market responses. What does the evidence show? How to measure success when effects are hard to observe and success has multiple meanings? And as new technologies reshape digital markets, how should regulators adapt? This panel takes stock of the record so far and discusses challenges ahead.
- Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye – CTO at DG Comp, Professor at Imperial College London
- Chiara Farronato – Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
- Martijn Snoep – President, Dutch Competition Authority
- Stéphanie Yon-Courtin – MEP, European Parliament
- Mikaël Hervé – Vice President, Charles River Associates
Fireside chat with Andrew Ferguson
A conversation with Andrew Ferguson on the future direction of merger and antitrust enforcement. The discussion will explore the opportunities and challenges created by technological change and AI, the role of regulation, and the priorities shaping antitrust policy in the years ahead.
- Andrew Ferguson – Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
- Alison Hole – Vice President, Charles River Associates
