Trade, Competition And Market Access In The European Union: Assessing The Effectiveness Of EU Competition Law In Preserving Fair And Open Markets
Sneha Gubrele, Mradul PandeyOct 3, 202610.5281/zenodo.23124766pp. 220–23213 pages
The EU Internal Market is a zone of free circulation of goods, services, capital, and people. At the same time, for the free circulation to be realized, it is necessary to ensure legal and institutional guarantees. The influence of cartels (consortiums of companies on a particular commodity), anti-competitive government interventions, different national policies, and the predominant position of giant digital companies in the market also affect the free circulation of goods in the EU. The EU has a well-developed legal framework for ensuring competition in the internal market. This legislation regulates anti-competitive agreements (article 101), abuse of dominance (article 102), and state aid (article 107). Recently, EU legislation has been developing digital-specific regulations, such as the DMA and DSA, to ensure the competitiveness of the EU internal market in the digital economy. EU competition law appears to be one of the most effective ways to ensure openness and competitiveness in the EU. In addition, it should be noted that such competition laws enable not only to ensure the free circulation of goods in the EU but also to enhance the competitiveness of enterprises. For instance, the EU should consolidate its tools for regulating entry barriers and separation of competition policy from economic policy to enhance the free circulation of goods within EU member states. Moreover, to ensure the free circulation of goods in the EU, it would be useful to develop competition policy oversight authorities to ensure and enforce regulations in the digital economy.