EU Competition Policy after Lisbon: Time for a Review of the 'State Action Doctrine'?

14 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2010 Last revised: 22 Nov 2010

Date Written: January 5, 2010

Abstract

The Lisbon Treaty removed the establishment of “a system ensuring that competition in the internal market is not distorted” as an objective of the Union. Even though largely rhetorical, this amendment is only one among various recent political expressions of defiance towards EU competition policy. This essay attempts to address, to a limited extent, those political concerns by taking issue with the so-called “state action doctrine” developed by the EU courts. It argues that, in contrast with current case law, the key test in assessing the legality of State measures limiting competition, i.e., public restraints (as opposed to private practices), ought to be whether they infringe the Union’s internal market rather than competition rules.

Keywords: Competition law, Antitrust, State action, Public restraints, European Union

Suggested Citation

Gerard, Damien M. B., EU Competition Policy after Lisbon: Time for a Review of the 'State Action Doctrine'? (January 5, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1533842 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1533842

Damien M. B. Gerard (Contact Author)

University of Louvain - CeDIE ( email )

Place Montesquieu, 2
Louvain-la-Neuve, 1348
Belgium

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