The European Commission has appointed Professor Kai-Uwe Kühn as new Chief Economist of the Directorate General for Competition. Professor Kühn holds a doctorate in economics from Oxford University and is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan. Professor Kühn will begin his three-year appointment May 1, 2011 and will be responsible for evaluating the economic implications of the European Commission’s actions, rules, and policies related to the competition field. 

The Chief Economist assists in evaluating the economic impact of the Commission’s actions in the competition field and provides independent guidance on methodological issues of economics and econometrics in the application of EU competition rules. He contributes to competition cases, in particular those involving complex economic issues and quantitative analysis and to the development of general policy instruments.

Professor Kühn has advised clients on a number of competition cases brought before the Commission, in particular the Microsoft antitrust investigation and the GE / Honeywell merger. Since 1992, he has held teaching positions at Princeton University, the autonomous University of Barcelona and others. In recent years, his work has focused on antitrust economics, with a particular interest on collusion and vertical integration.

The Commission has also appointed Jonas Rasimas, currently chairman of the Lithuanian Competition Council, as a Director responsible for competition matters in the field of energy and the environment.