To what extent does the history of Community competition law mirror the history of the Community itself ?

Extraits

[...] However the history of community competition law has features that cannot be found in any other common policy. This is why it is a merely global mirror of the development of the Union. To evaluate how community competition law reflects the integration process and the history of the Community in general, I shall demonstrate in a first part that community competition law was first strongly influenced by the development of the Union, then I shall explain why it is now facing heavy criticisms and being obliged to drop powers as to reach a consensus upon its competences. [...]

[...] Furthermore, the ECJ intensified the control on the Commission's work by using its Court of First instance. Many cases such as Automec II[17] about procedural aspects of the Commission's work, Italian Flat Glass[18] about the boundary in the enforcement of Articles 81 and 82, PVC cases[19]about evidence rules in enforcement of article 81, and Tetrapak II[20] about enforcement of article 82 witness a will of a stronger control of the Commission. The development of EC Competition law follows the current doctrinal current criticizing the Community, its Commission and its working methods as being a result of a lack of democracy known as democracy deficit'. [...]

[...] J. Weiler, ‘European Democracy and its critique', in Crisis of Representation in Europe' by F. Cass See 10. Nice Summit, December 2000. [...]

[...] Then it made its powers weaken, as to rebuilt a more democratic competition policy. ‘Following 1992, competition policy moved into a new phase'[14]. DGIV placed increasing emphasis on decentralization which coincided with the introduction of the principle of Subsidiarity in the Maastricht Treaty and a process of spontaneous alignment of national competition laws with Articles 81 and 82[15]. This alignment raised after the ECJ refused in the BRT case[16] to allow national authorities to play a role in the enforcement of exemptions. [...]

[...] The first idea of the development of Competition law reflects this view of a peace-proceeded union. The aims of the European Competition Policy are well summarised in a publication of the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development : 'Competition policy has its central economic goal the preservation and promotion of the competitive process, a process which encourages efficiency in the production and allocation of goods and services, and over time, trough its effects on innovation and adjustment to technical change, a dynamic process of sustained economic growth. [...]