The success of the Citizens’ Dialogue at the Vistula University

-“This market is to serve citizens, and not the other way around”, – asserted European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, at Vistula University, where nearly 400 people participated in the Citizens’ Dialogue.

“It was an honour for us, and a great pleasure to welcome the Commissioner. – After all, we are at an international university engaged in a discussion on European democracy” proclaimed the Rector of Vistula University, Prof. Ph.D. Witold Orłowski. “This is a place where we love Europe, but where we are also worried about it, because not everything works in Europe, as it should. We want it to develop better and better, to satisfy our citizens with its operation, he added. The main topic of the Citizens’ Dialogue with Margrethe Vestager was competition policy – its assumptions and challenges. – “Healthy competition is based on open markets and the availability of information, not on hidden agreements. This is what creating equal opportunities is all about”, Margrethe Vestager stressed.

Among the important rules of competition policy, the commissioner mentioned the ban on cartels, which resulted in over-pricing on the market and restricting competition, the fight against monopolies, and the control of mergers. “Customers must be able to approach the competition”, she opined.

Margrethe Vestager reminded everyone that, not only companies cause problems, but also governments. Public aid takes various forms, and often distorts competition in a way that is not very visible to citizens. That is why last year the European Commission looked at more than 400 cases of mergers, and a very large number of cases of state aid and cartel agreements.

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