Beyond Belgium: Jacques Steenbergen's Contribution to Competition Law and Policy

Abstract

For a competition agency to be visible and successful, it needs a face and a voice that are known and recognised beyond its remit as an authority in competition advocacy and sound economic judgement. Until not so very recently, it would have been unusual for the President of a national competition authority in the European Union (EU) to be well known beyond its jurisdiction. An exception to this rule—in the past—may have been the case of Italy, where a former Prime Minister was appointed as President of the authority in 1994. But even a number of years later, it would have been rare for competition law practitioners in a given country to be acquainted with the policies of other national competition authorities, let alone their staff. With the installation of the International and the European Competition Networks, this has now changed and this is, in particular, the merit of a small number of very well-known and charismatic personalities at the top of these agencies. One of these outstanding competition chiefs is Prof. Jacques Steenbergen, the President of the Belgian competition authority. He has now turned 65, and for this occasion, his friends and colleagues have put together an impressive Festschrift, which is called Mundi et Europae Civis. In recognition of Steenbergen’s exemplary professional track record as a leading academic, a private practitioner, a legal secretary at the European Court of Justice, and from 2007 onwards as the head of the Belgian competition authority, a further subtitle of the book in 21st century parlance could have been: Curriculum portarum versatilium. The 19 pages of bibliography collating the publications of Jacques Steenbergen place on record that competition law practice should not be isolated from other legal disciplines. Jacques Steenbergen has contributed articles on topics as varied as corporate restructuring, product liability, consumer protection, foreign trade law, constitutional law as well as on all aspects of Belgian and EU competition law. With hindsight, an article published in 1984 sounds almost prophetic: ‘The Court of Justice and governance in an Economic Crisis’, which Steenbergen co-authored with Mertens de Wilmars, the then President of the European Court of Justice. In the last almost 10 years of his professional career as the head of the Belgian competition authority, Steenbergen has been instrumental in making this authority an important hub in the network of European competition authorities, always somewhat of a primus inter pares given it’s not only geographic proximity to the European Commission. Three contributions in the Liber Amicorum authored by Bruno Lasserre, Andreas Mundt, and Wouter Wils are dedicated to this topic. There are further contributions on the institutional role of a national competition authority by Roger Witcomb on the situation in the United Kingdom as well as by Chris Fonteijn and Annetje Ottow on the independence of competition authorities from a global and from a Dutch perspective. The book provides an excellent panopticum of most of the current topics around competition policy and practice as well as other key issues on the EU political agenda such as political governance in the Euro crisis (contribution by Frans Vanistendael) and of the challenges of a new trade policy (contribution by Hugo Paemen). Other articles cover issues of procedure such as the contribution by Koen Lenaerts on the interplay between regulation number 1049/2001 and competition law-specific rules on access to documents alongside the contribution by Piet Van Nuffel on whether confidential business information enjoy the specific protection of a fundamental right. The book takes a keen interest in the prospective development of competition policy and practice into new areas of the law such as the inter relationship between sustainable development and competition law (articles by Jan Wouters/Laura Beke, David D’Hollander/ Kolja Raube, and Rene Smits). The book is rich in linguistic variety with articles in English, in French, and also in the Dutch language. It is an important source of reference and an ideal lectuur for a relaxing yet edifying extended weekend in the Hautes Fagnes.