Safeguarding the Economic Constitution: The Commission and Competition Policy

Abstract

As academic interest in the development of the European Union has expanded, so attention has converged increasingly on specific policy sectors. An extensive literature now covers practically all areas of EU activity from agriculture to trans European networks and from foreign and security policy to social policy. Rather curiously, competition policy has been largely ignored by political scientists, though a substantial body of literature exists from legal and economics perspectives. This oddity can perhaps be explained by a reluctance to engage in an area heavily dominated by the intricacies of European law, but its omission overlooks the resonance of a highly significant policy area. There are two particular aspects of its significance.