Ordoliberalism in European Competition Policy

• Author: Raju Parakkal
• Published date: 01 June 2016
• Date: 01 June 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0003603X16644119

Article

Ordoliberalism in European

Competition Policy:

The Logic of Democratic

Capitalism in Talbot’s Essay

Raju Parakkal*

Similar to the two North American countries—Canada and the United States—the European Union has

a fairly long history with the adoption and administering of their competition law. The heterogeneity

characterizing the European Union, however, meant that the European competition law had to be

designed and delivered in a manner that was sensitive to the political economy demands of its con-

stituent nations, the principles of market competition, and the intricacies of the ‘‘European project.’’

Conor Talbot’s article, ‘‘Ordoliberalism and Balancing Competition Goals in the Development of the

European Union,’’examines the role that the European competition policies played in the development

of the European project and its associated economic, social, and political goals during the post–World

War II period. The article focu ses on how the European competi tion policies complemented the

democratic and capitalistic ideals of the emerging European integration. In the process, the article

contributes to our understanding of the evolving nexus between capitalism, democracy, and compe-

tition laws in the European political economy.

Talbot argues that in the European context, it would be best to view competition law as a public law

rather than as an economic tool to regulate the European private market economy. This argument stems

from the understanding that European economies, while certainly pro-capitalist in their fundamental

economic orientation, are heterogeneous, and to meet the challenges that arise from that heterogeneity,

competition law had to take on a dynamic political role and character rather than act as a purely

economic policy measure administered in a mechanical fashion. As a consequence, competition policy

in Europe has become a mechanism that has served to balance multiple public policy goals. Quite

significantly, Talbot examines the influence of Ordoliberalism in the development of the European

competition policy, noting that this strand of economic thought provided the philosophical support to

pursue a competition policy that eschewed the laissez-faire belief that free markets by themselves and

without government intervention could produce a perfectly competitive market. The competition

policy that emerged in Europe, therefore, was markedly different than the American version, in both

its underlying philosophy and its goals.

*Assistant Professor of International Relations, Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Raju Parakkal, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA 19144, USA.

Email: parakkalr@philau.edu

The Antitrust Bulletin

2016, Vol. 61(2) 290-292

ªThe Author(s) 2016

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DOI: 10.1177/0003603X16644119

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