ACM organizes second Master Thesis Day

On 15 October, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) organized the second ‘ACM Master Thesis Day’. This purpose of the ACM Master Thesis Day is to strengthen the ties between ACM and academia. Masters students from several Dutch universities defended their theses before a professional jury.

Winning thesis

The jury consisted of ACM Board Member Cateautje Hijmans van den Bergh, Monique van Oers, Director of ACM’s Legal Department, and ACM’s former Chief Economist, Jarig van Sinderen. Martijn Snoep, Chairman of the Board of ACM, opened the ‘ACM Master Thesis Day ’.

Each of the students gave a presentation, after which there was time for questions. The winner was Wandy Kalk of the VU Amsterdam , with her thesis ‘Debarment Legislation: Its Potential as an Anti-Cartel Enforcement Tool’. The jury praised her presentation and her economic research into the possible deterrent effect of blacklists in tender processes.

Other theses

The other participants were Maurits Elen of Leiden University, presenting his thesis on ‘The Role of EU Financial Watchdogs During Brexit’, Rasmus Geertsema of the University of Groningen, telling about his thesis ‘The Great Competition Debate a systematic enquiry’, Alexandros Ntallas of the University of Amsterdam, speaking about ‘Failing Firm Defence under EU Merger Control: a legal concept or a political feasibility?’, and Joost van den Bogaerd of Utrecht University, presenting his thesis on ‘Google’s Search Data as an Essential Facility: Analysing the Fit Between Google’s Search Data and the Essential Facilities Doctrine Under EU Competition Law’.

The second ACM Master Thesis Day  was a success, and as Cateautje Hijmans van den Bergh remarked, it was a day with ‘only winners’.