European Commission

Unlawful activities by large businesses, i.e. usually those having a market share of at least 40% in at least one EU state. Examples of such activities, which are contrary to Article 82 of...

A provision of the Treaty of Rome entitling national courts to refer matters of EU law to the European Court of Justice for a determination. The case ultimately returns to the national...

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union brings together the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, and Community law as they...

Chemicals regulation aims to control the health and environmental risks posed by the production, use, and/or disposal of chemical substances and preparations. Moreover, as chemicals are...

A process in which the European Commission, when implementing EU law, has to consult special advisory committees made up of experts from the various EU countries. The procedure is designed...

1 Rank of chief officer of the City of London Police and Metropolitan Police Service.

2 (in the EU) See european commission.

(CAP)

A policy set up by the European Economic Community to support free trade within the Common Market and to protect farmers in the member states. The European Commission fixes a...

The fund, administered by the European Commission, into which all levies and customs duties on goods entering the European Union are paid and from which all subsidies due under the Common...

Laws made by the European Parliament acting jointly with the Council of the European Union and the European Commission. Each body has legislative powers but most legislation is now made by...

(CTM)

A trade mark that is registered for the whole of the European Union. It can be obtained by application to national trade mark offices or the Community Trade Mark Office at...

Rivalry between suppliers providing goods or services for a market. The consensus of most economic theory is that competition is beneficial for the public, largely because it brings prices...

A forum convened in March 2002, with a brief to devise a draft constitutional makeup of the EU. This was to recognize the dramatic growth of the EU since the 1980s, as European integration...

The Council of the European Union which directly represents the Member Governments, and is the principal decision‐making body that acts on proposals from the European Commission.

The organ of the EU that is primarily concerned with the formulation of policy and (in conjunction with the European Commission and European Parliament) the adoption of Community...

1 A court in which any proceedings are initiated.

2 Loosely, a court in which a case is tried, as opposed to any court in which it may be heard on appeal.

A move without notice by one firm to buy a substantial number of the shares of another. There is normally a limit to the number of shares that can be bought without giving notice of a...

The Directorate‐General for Competition (‘DG Competition’ or, in internal Commission jargon, ‘DG COMP’) is one of the twenty‐three Directorates‐General which make up the bulk of the...

A dominant position is a position of economic strength enjoyed by an undertaking which enables it to prevent effective competition being maintained in the relevant market by affording it...

The creation of a single European currency, the euro, managed by an independent European Central Bank (ECB), and the coordination of economic policies of participating member states which...

(b. 27 Jan. 1934).

French Prime Minister 1991–2 The daughter of a finance inspector and wife of a high‐ranking executive, she was an organizer of the youth in the Socialist Party...