Benoît Cœuré designated as Chair of the OECD Competition Committee

On 21 October 2024, Benoît Cœuré, President of the Autorité de la concurrence, was designated as Chair of the OECD Competition Committee by the Committee members, with effect from 1 January 2025, for a one-year renewable term. He will succeed Frédéric Jenny, to whom the Autorité pays tribute for his dedicated commitment to competition policy and his key role in developing the Committee during the last 30 years.

In addition, Natalie Harsdorf, Director General of the Austrian competition authority, will take over from Alberto Heimler as Chair of the Working Party on Competition and Regulation, and Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General at the US Department of Justice, has been re-designated as Chair of the Working Party on Cooperation and Enforcement.

During his term of office, Benoît Cœuré will implement the Committee’s programme of work, in particular on issues linked to the digitisation of the economy, ecological transition and the link between competition and industrial policies.

At a time of rapid technological change, major geopolitical challenges and the increasing focus on the issues of sovereignty and resilience, Benoît Cœuré will strive to promote the principles of competition while fostering collaboration with other OECD bodies and competent international forums.

Work of the OECD Competition Committee

Created in 1961, the OECD Competition Committee brings together competition experts from all OECD member and partner countries. Its main objective is to protect and promote competition as an organising principle of modern economies. In particular, the Committee works to enhance the effectiveness of competition law enforcement, promote pro-competitive economic reforms, strengthen synergies between competition policy and other areas of OECD work, and foster dialogue and cooperation between member countries’ competition authorities.