Guest Editor's Introduction

• Date: 01 December 2010
• DOI: 10.1177/0003603X1005500401
• Author: Ioannis Kokkoris
• Published date: 01 December 2010
• Subject Matter: Guest Editor's Introduction

Guest editor’s introduction

BYIOANNIS KOKKORIS*

When the European Commission first started to enforce competition

law in the 1960s, any restriction on conduct seemed to amount to a

restriction of competition. The Commission was interested in static

rather than dynamic competition. This approach combined with a for-

malistic approach to competition, which increased the powers of the

Commission, might have delayed the integration of the market. This

early approach was followed by a series of reforms in EC competition

law and policy. The reforms, aimed at an approach based on the likely

effects of conduct on consumer welfare, addressed enforcement of com-

petition legislation against cartels, abuse of dominance, and mergers.

The culmination of all the reforms relating to Article 101 of the

Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) was Regula-

tion 1/2003, which effected radical reform by enabling courts and

national authorities to apply Article 101(3). Prior to Regulation

1/2003, there was an individual exemption regime for agreements.

With Regulation 1/2003, the distinction between clearing an agree-

ment as not infringing Article 101(1) and an individual exception

THE ANTITRUST BULLETIN:Vol. 55, No. 4/Winter 2010 :707

* Associate Professor, University of Reading; Visiting Professor, Bocconi

University.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: For the completion of this special issue I am grateful to the

contributors, who eloquently elaborated on controversial issues that competition

authorities in the EU address and provided their invaluable insights on the treatment

of these issues. I am also very grateful to Bill Curran and Paolo Siciliani for their

invaluable advice and assistance through the development of this special issue.

© 2010 by Federal Legal Publications, Inc.