In an effort to detect and end cartels, the European Commission has allowed national competition authorities, through leniency programmes, to grant immunity or reduction in fines to any individual involved in a cartel in exchange for information on the cartel and continuous cooperation in the authorities' investigation.

The ECN Model was developed in order to align key elements of leniency policies and alleviate the burden of multiple filings with the ECN.

Despite these guidelines, important discrepancies persist between the various leniency programmes.

The ECN has invited the ICC Commission on Competition to identify difficulties faced by business when implementing leniency programmes and make suggestions on how these practical issues should be resolved. The ICC Task Force on Leniency is drafting a practical paper to identify the areas where discrepancies still exist and set forth recommendations on how the ECN should address them.

The ICC Task Force on Leniency is chaired by Dr. Luca Sanfilippo, General Counsel, Competition and Director of the Legal Affairs Department at Sky Italia S.R.L.