International Association of Competition Lawyers Elects Professor Podszun as President

Great honour for Prof. Dr. Rupprecht Podszun from the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf: He was elected President of the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA) in the General Assembly on 30 June 2023. ASCOLA is the worldwide association of academics who deal with antitrust law - the organisation is thus the global forum for competition law professors. It has over 600 members from all parts of the world. Podszun, who had already been Vice President of ASCOLA, succeeds the Israeli professor Michal Gal, who had held the office since 2016. Professors Thomas Cheng (Hong Kong), Magali Eben (Glasgow), Giorgio Monti (Tilburg), Wendy Ng (Melbourne) and Peter Picht (Zurich) were elected as new vice-presidents. The General Assembly took place in Athens on the occasion of the 18th Annual Conference of ASCOLA. Around 130 academic papers were presented there, which had previously been selected through a peer review process. Podszun presented his thoughts on thresholds in merger control. Also speaking at the conference were US professor Herbert Hovenkamp (considered the world's most frequently cited antitrust scholar) and Olivier Guersent, Director General of Competition at the European Commission. Podszun, who is also Director of the Institute for Competition Law at HHU, has been elected for two years.
The photo shows the ASCOLA members after the election in the Old Parliament of Athens. Seated in the front row from right to left: Prof. Podszun, Prof. Gal, Prof. Picht and former ASCOLA President Prof. Paul Nihoul (now a judge at the European Court).