The European Competition Network (ECN) consists of the 28 competition authorities within the European Union (see below for details) and the DG Competition of the European Commission. The ECN has no new authority and has consequently no rights over its members. The ECN merely constitutes a mechanism for an optimal allocation of cases and sets rules for the exchange of information amongst themselves. Regulation 1/2003 is the foundation for its creation and in Article 11 and 12 sets out the principles according to which the national competition authorities and the Commission can exchange information. According to Article 33 I b) 1/2003 the Commission is allowed to set out additional rules. The Commission did this by publishing the Notice on Cooperation within the Network of Competition Authorities. Many favour ever more uniformity in the interpretation and application of EU competition norms and the procedures to enforce them under this system. However, when there are such differences in many Member States' policy preferences and given the benefits of experimentation, in 2020 one might ask whether more diversity (within limits) might not produce a more efficient, effective and legitimate competition regime. Members The following national competition authorities, together with the European Commission's DG Competition, make up the ECN: Austria: Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde Belgium: Ministère des Affaires économiques Bulgaria: Комисия за Защита на Конкуренцията Croatia: Agencija za zaštitu tržišnog natjecanja (AZTN) Cyprus: Επιτροπή Προστασίας Ανταγωνισμού Czech Republic: Úřad pro ochranu hospodářské soutěže Denmark: Konkurrencestyrelsen Estonia: Konkurentsiamet Finland: Kilpailuvirasto France: Conseil de la concurrence Germany: Bundeskartellamt Greece: Hellenic Competition Commission Hungary: Gazdasági Versenyhivatal Ireland: Competition Authority Italy: Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato Latvia: Konkurences padome Lithuania: Konkurencijos taryba Luxembourg: Inspection de la concurrence Malta: Office for Fair Trading Netherlands: Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) Poland: Urzęd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów Portugal: Autoridade da Concorrência Romania: Consiliul Concurentei Slovakia: Protimonopolný úrad Slovenia: Urad Republike Slovenije za varstvo konkurence Spain: Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia Sweden: Konkurrensverket Turkey: Rekabet Kurumu United Kingdom: Competition and Markets Authority See also European competition law References External links ECN homepage: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/ecn/index_en.html Economy of the European Union