1986 and After: Competition Law, the Member States, and the European Union

The intensification of European integration that began with the Single European Act of 1986 brought changes in the relationship between national competition laws and Community competition law, and gradually moved that relationship to the centre of the European competition law story. Since then, decisions regarding the structure and operation of national competition laws have increasingly been made with at least one eye on Community competition law, and the relationship between national and Community competition law has become the focus of attention in Brussels. This chapter looks at both the...

The intensification of European integration that began with the Single European Act of 1986 brought changes in the relationship between national competition laws and Community competition law, and gradually moved that relationship to the centre of the European competition law story. Since then, decisions regarding the structure and operation of national competition laws have increasingly been made with at least one eye on Community competition law, and the relationship between national and Community competition law has become the focus of attention in Brussels. This chapter looks at both the reshaping of national competition laws and the institutions of the European Union.