Audio
SynthèseINTRODUCTORY REMARKS
“We are living in exciting times”, Tilman Kuhn emphasised in his introduction to the Dinner in Honor of Andreas Mundt in the K21 in Düsseldorf, pointing to the recent prohibition of the Siemens-Alstom merger by the European Commission and other recent decisions. Tilman Kuhn introduced the guest of honor Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office), commending him for initiating key debates. Having joined the Bundeskartellamt in 2000, Mundt became its president in 2009. Since 2013, he has also been the steering group chair of the International Competition Network.
KEYNOTE SPEECH
In his speech, Andreas Mundt referred to the many new questions raised by the present time that shake the traditional economic order. Instead of various competitors holding each other in check, we often face a much smaller number of actors today. It is a challenge to apply market-oriented regulatory policy to this new economic order, taking into account private property, responsibility, contractual freedom and social participation. Mundt acknowledged that these changes brought about great responsibilities to not create digital elites and leave consumers behind. However, these shifts, he said, do not mean that all existing principles must be called into question.