Competition agreement should be part of next round of World Trade...

planned to discuss it with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. EU considers such accord “very important,” Monti said. As more countries create competition authorities, it would be good to include in WTO some agreement on “core principles” such as transparency, nondiscrimination between national and foreign companies, and due process, he said. Competition agreement could include concept of peer review process to ensure that laws passed by WTO members were in line with those principles, as well as some way to foster bilateral cooperation between different antitrust authorities, Monti said. It’s becoming increasingly clear, he said, that growing number of countries now back inclusion of competition framework within WTO that would support introduction and enforcement of competition laws. It’s also important to be clear on what “we do not want” in next round, he said, including having WTO review antitrust decisions made by member states’ respective regulatory bodies. Asked whether he sensed any change in U.S. opposition to competition agreement, Monti said that neither FCC nor DoJ was “particularly inclined” during his meetings to outline future U.S. policies. Other items EU intends to press for, he said, are further strengthening of bilateral cooperation in antitrust matters and global competition forum. European Commission clears “vast majority” of mergers and acquisitions in one month, Monti said, citing Boeing’s recent acquisition of Hughes’s satellite company. That speed and predictability is greatly appreciated by business community, he said.