6. Competition Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 130-151
Author(s):  
Mark Thatcher
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
National Policy ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Industrial Policies ◽  
European Court ◽  
National Governments

This chapter examines the European Union’s competition policy. It shows that the EU’s legal powers in general competition policy—over restrictive practices, abuse of a dominant position, mergers, state aid, and state monopolies—are very extensive and highly supranational with few direct controls for national governments. The chapter then studies two views of the application of these powers—that they have been used in a more ‘neo-liberal’ manner in recent decades or that they continue to provide scope for industrial policies of supporting European champion firms. It underlines that the Commission has been an active and central player in policy-making, together with the European Court. But all actors operate in a wider context of large powerful firms as well as experts and practitioners in competition policy. The chapter concludes by analysing how the economic crisis after 2008 has reignited debates about altering the criteria for policy to give more place to aims other than protecting competition, to offer more space to national policy-makers, and to provide greater scrutiny and accountability for the Commission, as well as greater action to deal with the new ‘digital tech giants’, but that these encounter significant obstacles.

10. An Introduction to EU Competition Policy and Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Foster
Keyword(s):  
Competition Policy ◽  
Competition Law ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Merger Control ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Eu Merger Control ◽  
Eu Competition Law ◽  
Eu Competition Policy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Article 102 Tfeu

This chapter discusses EU competition law. It covers the basic outline of EU competition policy; Article 101 TFEU; Article 101(2) TFEU and the consequence of a breach; Article 101(3) TFEU exemptions; Article 102 TFEU and the abuse of a dominant position; the relationship between Arts 101 and 102 TFEU; the enforcement of EU competition law; conflict of EU and national law, state aid; and EU merger control.

5. Key Policies

2018 ◽  
pp. 101-122
Author(s):  
John Peterson ◽  
Alberta Sbragia
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Monetary Union ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Common ◽  
Policy Types

This chapter examines some of the most important areas of policy-making in the European Union. It first explains how EU policy-making differs from national policy-making before discussing the most important policies aimed at building the internal market and limiting its potentially negative impact on individuals, society, and the environment. The EU’s ‘market-building’ policies include competition policy, trade policy, and the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), while ‘market-correcting’ and ‘cushioning’ policies include the common agricultural policy, the cohesion policy, and environmental and social regulation. The chapter shows how these policies are made and also why and how they matter. It also compares policy types in the EU.

(Not) Proving the Public Good: Scientific Evidence and the Margin of Appreciation

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-262
Author(s):  
Ciarán Burke ◽  
Alexandra Molitorisová
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Court ◽  
Margin Of Appreciation ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
National Governments

Abstract The article offers a critical look at the complex relationship between the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and policy-supportive (scientific) evidence. In particular, due to now commonplace, evidence-based policy-making of national governments, the Court is effectively supplemented with various statistics and studies and tasked with reviewing policy measures aiming to improve the public good. This article investigates the ECtHR’s use and interpretation of policy-supportive evidence in the proportionality analysis, and how this affects the margin of appreciation. The recent case of Dubská and Krejzová concerning the ban on home births, which the article explores in detail, is illustrative in this regard. Although the Court appears to review scientific evidence substantively, an increased proliferation of statistics and studies may bring about controversy in relation to legal cases, without having a conclusive impact upon the outcome of a dispute.

6. Competition Policy Defending the Economic Constitution

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Wilks
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Antitrust Enforcement ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Economic Constitution ◽  
Directorate General ◽  
The Law ◽  
Abuse Of Dominant Position

This chapter examines the European Union’s competition policy and how its effectiveness has steadily increased in terms of controlling restrictive practices, abuse of dominant position, mergers, state aid, and the liberalization of utilities. It considers how the central dominance of the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) in the European Commission has been perpetuated and how competition policy has become a supranational policy competence which can be regarded as an ‘economic constitution’ for Europe. The chapter also discusses the decentralization of antitrust enforcement to the national agencies and courts through the ‘Modernization Regulation’ of 2003, as well as a ‘turn to economics’ in which economic analysis has been substituted for legal tests to move towards an ‘effects-based’ (effect on competition) interpretation of the law.

Judicial Politics in the European Community

1994 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAREN J. ALTER ◽  
SOPHIE MEUNIER-AITSAHALIA
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
Judicial Politics ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Political Role ◽  
European Court ◽  
Political Access ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
Dominant Member ◽  
National Governments

Was the European Court of Justice a key actor in the “relaunching” of European integration in the 1980s? This article examines the crucial political role that was played by the Court with its Cassis de Dijon judgment in the rejuvenation EC harmonization policy and the development of the Single European Act. The authors challenge the dominant view that the Court's legal decisions in themselves create policy consequences, or that legal verdicts reflect the views of dominant member states, so as to create focal points around which a policy consensus emerges. They argue, instead, that the Cassis verdict acted as a catalyst, provoking a political response by the Commission, which attempted to capitalize on the verdict to create a “new approach to harmonization.” This political entrepreneurship by the Commission triggered the mobilization of interest groups that lobbied their national governments for and against mutual recognition. Generalizing from the case, this article concludes that the Court performs three crucial roles in the EC policy-making process: opening political access to self-interested individuals, launching ideas into the policy-making arena, and provoking political responses through bold argumentation and unpopular verdicts.

scholarly journals Using Evidence in Policies Addressing Rural NEETs: Common Patterns and Differences in Various EU Countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 0044118X2110563
Author(s):  
Claudia Petrescu ◽  
Adriano Mauro Ellena ◽  
Maria Fernandes-Jesus ◽  
Elena Marta
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Employment Education ◽  
Narrative Framework

Using the policy narrative framework, this article examines the pathways through which the development of policies (related to rural/small towns young NEETs in various EU countries) are based on evidence. To do this, we consider the Youth Guarantee (YG), an EU program (2014–2020) developed in several member countries with the aim of socioprofessional inclusion of NEETs (young people aged 15–24 that are not in employment, education, or training). It examines how evidence is used for national policy-making and is taken into account by stakeholders. This study involves documentary analysis of YG in three European countries: namely, Romania, Italy, and Portugal. In addition, it involves 27 interviews with policy-makers and NGO leaders. The results show a predominantly statistical use of data exclusively managed by public institutions. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of consulting evidence from academia and NGOs to improve this policy.

scholarly journals Competition Policy during the Economic Crisis – legal issues

Equilibrium ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-89
Author(s):  
Mateusz Błachucki ◽  
Rafał Stankiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Competition Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Made In

The paper addresses the issue of legal issues of competition policy during the economic crisis. During the economic crisis public authorities are forced to redefine the aims of public policies and harmonize them. The paper aims at identifying spheres, where competition policy is limited by other public policies. First, the problem of crisis cartels and their admissibility under competition law is discussed. It is followed by the presentation of the exemptions to the general prohibition of anticompetitive mergers. Last but not least, the temporary framework for state aid in the UE is presented. It has been argued that during the economic crisis public authorities use peculiar legal instruments of competition policy to address problems arising from the crisis. Whenever it is possible reference to the case law is made in order to present the application of presented problems in practice.

10. An Introduction to EU Competition Policy and Law

2019 ◽  
pp. 352-392
Author(s):  
Nigel Foster
Keyword(s):  
Competition Policy ◽  
Competition Law ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Merger Control ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Eu Merger Control ◽  
Eu Competition Law ◽  
Eu Competition Policy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Article 102 Tfeu

This chapter discusses EU competition law. It covers the basic outline of EU competition policy; Article 101 TFEU; Article 101(2) TFEU and the consequence of a breach; Article 101(3) TFEU exemptions; Article 102 TFEU and the abuse of a dominant position; the relationship between Articles 101 and 102 TFEU; the enforcement of EU competition law; conflict of EU and national law; state aid; and EU merger control.

scholarly journals Ethics, health policy-making and the economic crisis: a qualitative interview study with European policy-makers

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Brall ◽  
Peter Schröder-Bäck ◽  
Rouven Porz ◽  
Farhang Tahzib ◽  
Helmut Brand
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Moral Concern ◽  
European Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Decision Taking

Abstract Background The economic crisis posed various challenges to policy-makers who had to decide on which health policy measures to focus on and on which to refrain from. The aim of this research was to assess the relevance of ethics and to highlight ethical dimensions in decision-taking by policy-makers with regard to policy and priority-setting in health systems posed by the economic crisis. Methods Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with eight European policy-makers from six countries. Results All interviewees recalled difficult and strenuous situations where they had to prioritise between distinct areas to focus on and invest in, for example around choices between prioritising medications, health professional staffing, care specific equipment, or urgent infrastructure issues. Values could be identified which they deemed as important within the policy-making process, such as trust and responsibility. They explicitly expressed the need for ethical tools and assistance in terms of policy advice for reaching morally sustainable decisions in health policy matters. Conclusions The study showed that ethical concepts and values frequently come into play in health policy-making, and that ethics is highly relevant in policy-makers’ daily decision-taking, yet that they lack ethical guidance on what to base their decisions. The study is of relevance since it can provide future decisions on austerity-related issues with an ethical underpinning and could identify areas of moral concern.

A sensitivity analysis of the RIE index as a supplementary tool for national policy making

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-189
Author(s):  
Riccardo Natoli ◽  
Segu Zuhair
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Emerging Economy ◽  
Alternative Measure ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Initial Results

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of the resource-infrastructure-environment (RIE) index as a supplementary tool to assist policy makers. Design/methodology/approach – This study undertakes a sensitivity analysis (SA) to assess the responsiveness of the RIE index to potential policy actions on three countries: Australia (mid-industrialised nation), Mexico (emerging economy) and the USA (highly industrialised nation). Findings – The results show that the RIE framework is capable of accommodating SA to guide the policymakers on the directional changes of the index to measurable changes to its component parts. Research limitations/implications – Although the initial results seem promising, further refinement of the indicator is required before it can be practically implemented. For instance, the RIE framework has yet to incorporate dimensions to represent distribution and effects of substitution. Originality/value – The paper undertakes a SA to assess the responsiveness of the RIE index which is an alternative measure of progress for nations that has the capability to capture more aspects important to progress.

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