EU Antitrust Enforcement in 2025: 'Why Wait? Full Appellate Jurisdiction, Now'

Abstract

This short note discusses the emergence of a gap between the modernization of EU antitrust enforcement over the past decade and the hybrid character of the EU Courts' jurisdiction. To bridge that gap, it advocates a re-balancing of the EU antitrust enforcement system by endowing the EU Courts with full appellate jurisdiction "to review decisions whereby the Commission has fixed a fine or periodic penalty payment." It then argues that Art. 31 of Regulation 1/2003 constitutes an appropriate legal basis to implement that solution.

Keywords: European Union, antitrust, competition, judicial review, EU Courts, enforcement

JEL Classification: K21, K39, K41, K42, L49