Privatizations: Legal and Economic Design, Institutional Implications, Competition Policy

Το Ινστιτούτο Μελετών Δικαίου και Πολιτικής Ανταγωνισμού (ΙΜΕΔΙΠΑ) με τη χορηγία της Νομικής Βιβλιοθήκης διοργανώνει ημερίδα με την υποστήριξη του European Public Law Organization (EPLO), του the Hellenic State Aid Institute και του Centre for Law, Economics and Society, UCL Faculty of Laws (CLES) την Παρασκευή 25 Νοεμβρίου 2011, ώρα 9:00- 19:30 στο ξενοδοχείο Μεγάλη Βρετανία, Πλατεία Συντάγματος.

Privatizations: Legal and Economic Design, Institutional Implications, Competition Policy

Organized by IMEDIPA

With the support of the European Public Law Organization (EPLO), the Hellenic State Aid Institute and the Centre for Law, Economics and Society, UCL Faculty of Laws (CLES)

8.45 Introduction and Welcome: Ioannis Lianos, IMEDIPA, UCL

9.00 - 10.30 First Panel: The privatization process: financial, legal and economic design issues
The objective of this panel will be to examine the economics of privatizations and the various methods of privatising state-owned assets, including, the commercial/corporate structures available to transfer assets,  the financial design and risks involved, the forms of the transfer, the role of due diligence. Where appropriate, this session will reflect on the competing interests of key participants in any privatisation (such as the State, the national population, labour groups and investors ).

Chair: George Triantafyllakis, Democritus University of Thrace Law School

Panelists

Abel Mateus, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), UCL

Stephanie Bates, Capital Markets Group, Mayer Brown, London

Christos Hadjiemmanuil, University of Piraeus, Centre for Political Research

10.30 – 11.00 Coffee Break

11.00 – 13.00 Second Panel: Competition law implications of the privatization process I
This panel will delve into questions relating to the legal constraints imposed by the EU and national competition law and public procurement framework.

Chair: Dimitris Tzouganatos, University of Athens Law School

Panelists

Kiran Desai, Mayer Brown, Brussels

Dimitris Avgitidis, Democritus University of Thrace; Hellenic Competition Commission

Konstantinos Adamantopoulos, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP, Brussels

Emmanuel Dryllerakis, Dryllerakis & Associates

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 16.00 Third Panel: The management of the privatization process
The panel will discuss the management of the privatization process. What are the aims of the privatization and how the current structure of the Privatization Fund might deliver on these objectives? What are the broader institutional and constitutional implications of the privatizations process? The panel will also discuss the experiences of other EU Members States in the design and the management of the privatization process.

Chair: Spyridon Flogaitis, EPLO, University of Athens Law School

Panelists

Luis Morais, University of Lisbon Law School (FDL)

Wernhard Möschel, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen

Charalampos S. Dimitriou, C & S Dimitriou & Associates

Nikos Kosmidis, Tzouganatos & Partners

Dimitrios Loukas, Commissioner, Hellenic Competition Commission

16.00 – 16.30 Coffee break

16.30 -18.00 Fourth Panel: : Competition law implications of the privatization process II
This panel will focus on the competition law implications of the privatizations process, in particular state aid control. The panel will also discuss specific case studies with regard to the application of competition law in order to illustrate the various implications of the privatization’s process.

Chair: Assimakis Komninos, IMEDIPA, UCL,White & Case LLP

Panelists

Vassilis Karagiannis, KLC Law Firm

Antonios Metaxas, The Hellenic State Aid Institute

Greg Pelecanos, Ballas, Pelecanos & Associates L.P.C.

Eliza Petritsi, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP, Brussels

18.00 -19.15 Fifth Panel: Managing the (political) risks of the privatization process – employment status of personnel, relations with the broader reforms of public utilities regulation and public management
This panel will focus on the main difficulty raised by the Greek privatization process, which is the political risks, in particular because of the opposition of trade unions and other interests. The panel will aim to uncover what the process of privatization means for the employees of the privatized entities in practice, by looking to past experience of privatizations in Greece and abroad. It will also raise the question of consensus building and the management of political risks (the entity that should bear them, mitigating factors etc) and will examine how the privatization process interrelates with the broader reform of utilities’ regulation and public management.

Chair: Ioannis Lianos, IMEDIPA, UCL

Panelists

Kostas Bakopoulos, University of Athens Law School

Ekaterini Iliadou, University of Athens Law School

Argiris Economou, Public Power Corporation