The Bundeskartellamt has today published a learning kit on the subject "Competition Control in Germany". Together with a comprehensive list of links to illustrative video and audio clips the kit addresses students who are interested in economics and competition. Teachers can use the kit in economics and social studies lessons to demonstrate in a practice-oriented approach the significance of competition in our economic system and explain the framework conditions set by the state to protect competition.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "With our teaching materials and the list of links we wish to help ensure that a greater emphasis is placed on the subject of economics in schools. When we visited schools and offered further training programmes for teachers we often found that the subject of competition law is very suitable for teaching basic concepts of the economic and business world in an interesting way."

The kit deals with the following subjects:

-       Why do we need competition?

-       Does free competition need rules?

-       How does the Bundeskartellamt prosecute cartels?

-       Why does the Bundeskartellamt control mergers?

-       What is the purpose of the control of abusive practices?

-       Protection of competition in the European Union

The kit was prepared by the Bundeskartellamt in cooperation with teachers specialized in the subject. It consists of a total of six worksheets with relevant task sheets. On the basis of practical case examples each worksheet explains a separate area of activity and provides an insight into the organisation and activities of competition control. The documents include tasks with possible solutions and suggestions for further discussion on the respective subject. There are also two classroom experiments which can be used to illustrate how market prices are formed in a competitive environment and how the leniency programme works in cartel prosecution.

The teaching materials (only German version) can be downloaded here.

The collection of links which the authority has also published today includes a large number of illustrative contributions by other competition authorities and institutions. These include e.g. a video produced by the Netherlands Competition Authority on the "Frikandel Cartel" as well as comics and mangas produced by the European Commission and the Competition Commission of Singapore. "Fair Fight in the Marketplace", a video considered to be a classic among competition experts, is also included. The English language documentation deals with the so-called lysine cartel on which the movie "The Informant" starring Matt Damon was based.

The collection of links is available here.