MaCCI Annual Conference 2026
New Insights on Competition and Innovation
On March 19–20, 2026, the Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation hosted the 15th MaCCI Annual Conference at ZEW Mannheim. Around 130 participants gathered for discussions on current developments in competition and innovation. This year’s program featured two keynote lectures and numerous parallel sessions covering research on competition law, mergers, platform governance, artificial intelligence, innovation, and market power.
Several special sessions and panels complemented the academic program. A session organized by the Bundeskartellamt presented recent merger cases, and the European Commission (DG COMP) contributed a session on a conglomerate merger and net cost issues in the postal sector. Two panels organized by the Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht addressed contemporary issues in competition policy, including non-price restrictions among competitors and the challenges of competition enforcement in a multipolar world.
Nobel laureate Jean Tirole (Toulouse School of Economics) delivered a keynote lecture on “Industrial Policy and Innovation.” Another highlight of the conference was the Heike Schweitzer Keynote Lecture, given by Cani Fernández Vicién (President of the Spanish National Authority for Markets and Competition), who spoke on “The Limits of Antitrust Revisited: Humility, Legitimacy, Justice.”