The Evolution of EU Antitrust Policy: 1966–2017

Abstract

This article describes, and puts in context, the evolution of the enforcement practice of the European Commission in the area of EU antitrust law (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU). It considers all formal decisions adopted in the period between 1966 -when the European Court of Justice delivered the two seminal rulings that marked the discipline -and the end of 2017. The article classifies Commission decisions in accordance with four enforcement paradigms. The descriptive statistics show that the cases that the Commission chooses to prioritise have changed over the years. First, enforcement has progressively moved towards the core and the outer boundaries of the system. Second, it has become policy-driven rather than law-driven. Third, the nature of the cases chosen by the Commission is consistent with its commitment to a 'more economics-based approach' to enforcement. Finally, these cases signal a move towards a more ambitious stage in the process of the integration of Member States' economies.

Evidence-Based Legislation in EU Competition Law

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The Scope of State Sovereignty Under Article 194(2) Tfeu and the Evolution of Eu Competences in the Energy Sector

“…30 It was only in the 1990s that events taking place in the energy sector were reviewed under Treaty rules on competition, which had been applied to many other sectors throughout the 1970s and 1980s. 31 The first cohesive body of case law in this area dates from the 1990s, which marked the end of the slow and incidental application of primary law to the energy sector that preceded it. 32 Explanations vary as to why this happened when it did.…”