Co-ordinated Diversity: Revolutionary Suggestions for EU Competition Law (and for EU Law too)

20 Pages Posted: 26 Jul 2013 Last revised: 7 May 2014

See all articles by Christopher Townley

Christopher Townley

King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law; A Dickson Poon Transnational Law Institute

Date Written: July 26, 2013

Abstract

The overwhelming view is that the EU competition rules should be applied uniformly. By placing the competition rules in a wider EU context, specifically Article 101 TFEU (anti-competitive arrangements), this paper argues that the national competition authorities (NCAs) should be able to diverge in their application of Article 101. This better respects the EU legal order’s substantive and procedural diversity. It also helps learning. There are limits, however. The paper then suggests co-ordinating this diversity in networks where the NCAs and the Commission can share policy solutions and ideas (the ECN). This network can be replicated to help in other areas of EU law. Take the network of national and EU bodies that discuss proposed technical regulations’ compatibility with Articles 34 and 36 TFEU under Directive 98/34, as amended. The paper explores how insights from the ECN can improve policy learning in this free movement network too.

Keywords: Articles 34, 36 and 101 TFEU, competition, free movement, uniformity, diversity, network

JEL Classification: K20, K21, L40

Suggested Citation

Townley, Christopher, Co-ordinated Diversity: Revolutionary Suggestions for EU Competition Law (and for EU Law too) (July 26, 2013). (2014) 33 Yearbook of European Law 1, King's College London Law School Research Paper No. 2014-13, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2298588 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2298588

Christopher Townley (Contact Author)

King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law ( email )

Somerset House East Wing
Strand
London, WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/law/about/staff/t/townleyc.html

A Dickson Poon Transnational Law Institute ( email )

London, England WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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