The European Union's competition policy
The EU's Competition Policy is about applying rules to make sure that companies compete with each other and innovate and offer good prices to consumers. The European Commission's Directorate General for Competition oversees issues of antitrust, mergers, cartels, liberalisation, state aid and the challenges of globalisation.
The European Commission, together with the national competition authorities, directly enforces EU competition rules, Articles 101-109 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), to make EU markets work better, by ensuring that all companies compete equally and fairly on their merits. Specifically, it keeps an eye on companies to make sure they don't club together to share the market between them or don't act in a way to exclude would-be competitors. If they step out of line then it can impose considerable fines on them which can be up to 10% of their turnover. This is seen as benefiting consumers, businesses and the European economy as a whole.
Advertisement
FACT SHEETS
| Policy Areas | Sectoral Competition |
|---|---|
| Antitrust | Consumer goods |
| Mergers in the EU | Pharmaceuticals |
| Cartels in the EU | Agriculture |
| Liberalisation | Motor Vehicles |
| State Aid | Energy |