The Role of Competition Policy in Promoting Economic Recovery

Abstract

This paper explores the interaction between the governmental policies adopted to face the COVID-19 emergency and competition policy. As the COVID-19 crisis develops and moves through different stages, governments, policymakers and regulators, including competition authorities, face different challenges in order to support a swift and robust recovery. In most jurisdictions, the state has been playing a role in minimising the direct hit from the crisis and can be expected to continue to play a role in the shaping of the economic recovery. In this context, the question therefore arises: how can competition policy and competition authorities contribute to a faster and more sustained economic recovery? The paper concludes that competition policy and competition authorities have a very relevant role to play to ensure a robust economic bounce-back and recovery in the long-term. Competition advocacy by competition authorities can be expected to play a more relevant role in the near future, helping policy makers make full and well-informed policy choices, accounting for competition distortions from state interventions, and designing support measures. Strong competition enforcement will also be important, and competition authorities will have to carefully prioritise in order to help ensure the drive for economic recovery.

Keywords: Competition policy, economic recovery, Covid-19, competition enforcement