The Malta–EU Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC) in collaboration with the Maltese Judicial Studies Committee and the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal organised a Conference on the Application of EC Competition Law in Malta. 

The main objective of the conference was to offer assistance and guidance to the Maltese judiciary in the application of the new decentralised EC competition law regime, as reformed by Council Regulation 1/2003.  Previously the Commission had the sole power to apply Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty; however Council Regulation 1/2003, which entered into force on 1^st May 2004, now gives national courts the power to apply Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty in full.

This change led to an increased application of the Community competition rules by national courts.  Such an increased application explains the need for assistance to and training of national judges with regards to the exercise of their new powers.  With this thought in mind, the Directorate-General for Competition (DG Comp) of the European Commission subsidises projects which are intended to strengthen judicial co-operation between national judges and their training with a view to the implementation of Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty. 

The Conference also covered other topical subjects, such as the White Paper for damages actions for breach of EC competition rules which is currently being proposed by the European Commission.

This conference took place on the 10^th and 11^th of November at the Westin Dragonara Resort and was open to Maltese judges, magistrates and their judicial assistants. Members of the judiciary from the United Kingdom also participated. Main Speakers at the Conference  included Mr Adam Scott OBE TD, Ms Vivien Rose, Mr David Bailey from the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal; and Prof Eugene Buttigieg and Prof Lino Briguglio from the University of Malta.