Competition Policy As a Tool of EU Foreign Policy: Multilateralism, Bilateralism, and Soft Convergence

Abstract

Competition has been the driving force of European integration, but it also had a foreign policy dimension, a standard to be imposed on candidate countries and on the world at large. For the new members, competition has been a discipline imposed on them and an important criterion for membership. As for international antitrust, the European Commission first attempted to suggest a multilateral approach to antitrust enforcement, but the international community was not ready. The Commission then contributed to the founding of the international competition network, a soft convergence exercise. This paper first addresses the role of competition internally and then describes the major initiatives the Commission took internationally.

Keywords: Competition, Antitrust, European Union, International Competition Network, Convergence

JEL Classification: K21, K33