Experts from 45 countries attend the multi-day conference in Budapest
Budapest, 24 April 2025 – The Hungarian Competition Authority (Gazdasági Versenyhivatal - GVH) and the International Competition Network (ICN) are hosting the 2025 meeting of chief economists in Hungary. The conference was opened by Csaba Balázs Rigó, President of the GVH and member of the ICN Steering Group at the headquarters of the competition authority. In his welcome speech, he highlighted the current issues of digital platforms and artificial intelligence, which, as he said, "are among the most important challenges for competition policy in the period ahead." He also stressed that "competition authorities also have an important role to play in mitigating the inflationary fluctuations of recent years."
The International Competition Network (ICN) was established in 2001. Its aim is to provide an informal platform for competition authorities around the world to share their experiences and practices and to discuss current trends and changes in competition policy. Currently, the organisation is made up of national competition authorities from 141 countries around the world. Csaba Balázs Rigó, President of the GVH, has been an elected member of the ICN Steering Group since 2023.
The bi-annual meeting of chief economists provides a platform for senior economists from competition authorities, as well as prominent representatives from the academic world, to discuss the economic aspects of competition policy.
The ICN and the Hungarian Competition Authority are hosting the 2025 meeting at the headquarters of the GVH in Budapest between 23-25 April. The event brings together 59 experts from 45 countries across six continents to share their experiences. Individual sessions on particular topics are introduced by professors from the Universities of Toronto, New York, Leuven, East Anglia and Queen's. The conference covers a range of current topics, including the impact of digital platforms on product market competition and consumers' everyday decisions; modern antitrust detection tools; methods for evaluating regulatory intervention; and the impact of artificial intelligence on competition.
The conference was opened by Csaba Balázs Rigó, President of the GVH and member of the ICN Steering Group, highlighting that "competition authorities are facing new and increasingly complex challenges, which require the discussion and adoption of the latest methodologies." He added: "These challenges include, among others, infringing practices in the digital space, the rise of artificial intelligence and the inflationary shocks of recent years."
The Hungarian Competition Authority has been paying close attention to developments in the digital space for several years. The GVH was one of the first EU competition authorities to carry out a market analysis on the potential impact of AI in 2024. Based on the results of the analysis, the Authority has made a number of recommendations to the Hungarian legislator, which could be implemented in the framework of a renewed national strategy for AI. As part of the fight against inflation - including food price fluctuations - the GVH launched two accelerated sectoral inquiries into the domestic markets for milk and dairy products as well as eggs.
GVH Press
Further information:
Bálint Horváth, Head of Communication +36 20 238 6939
Katalin Gondolovics, Spokesperson +36 30 603 1170