Professor Peter Whelan joins a United Nations Working Group on cartels

On 4 February, Professor Whelan spoke at the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on cross-border cartels (operated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)).

The Working Group comprises antitrust officials from over 50 UN Member States, as well as a select group of scholars, practitioners, and representatives from international organisations, such as the OECD. Representing the Centre for Business Law and Practice at the University of Leeds, Professor Whelan is the only UK academic participant on the Working Group.

The Resolution setting up the Working Group states that the UN shall “establish a working group on cross-border cartels, open to Member States on a voluntary basis, without financial implications for the regular budget of the United Nations, to highlight best practices, to facilitate information exchange and consultations, and to report to the nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition law and policy”.

The Working Group will continue to meet in the coming months and aims to complete its report in June 2021. As a member, Professor Whelan will input his expertise on the enforcement of cartel law.

Professor Whelan’s contribution to the Working Group helps to strengthen further the collaborative links between the School of Law and the United Nations with respect to competition law. The Centre for Business Law and Practice (of which Professor Whelan is the Director) is a member of UNCTAD’s Research Partnership Platform on Competition and Consumer Protection, where it aims to provide policy advice on the formulation and enforcement of competition laws and policies, support educational activities on competition, and contribute to training and capacity building in the developing world.