edf40wrjww2CF_PaperMaster:Desc
Introduction
In ? world where goods and services (but also people, capital and ideas) are increasingly ignoring national borders, competition policy has emerged as ? highly salient issue at th? heart of international trade discussions. Aspects of competition policy, from cartels and monopolies to state aids and th? liberalization of th? utilities, have become ? regular feature in th? pages of th? financial and legal press and have become identified as ? central element in any government's policy towards industry and its drive for competitiveness. This paper focuses on European Union’s fear that ? dominant firm will force rivals out of business, raise prices and restrict choice.
In addition th? European unions also focuses that th? dominance of economics and law in competition policy, stresses th? political dimension to competition policy. ? government and public administration perspective is essential. This is in evidence in th? type of regime, th? commitment to enforcing th? law, th? role of discretion and issues such as transparency and democracy. Th? example of merger control is used to illustrate how th? European Commission (EC) has emerged and operates as ? genuinely federal actor in determining and shaping merger policy throughout th? ?U. In short, this paper accounts for policy development, th? decision making process and in particular th? degree to which discretion and politicization underpin one of th? most crucial aspects of economic regulation.
Of all th? European Commission's current activities in th? competition arena, it is merger control that exemplifies this particular policy's potential for controversy. From British Airways/American Airlines to Boeing-McDonnell Douglas and from Coca ...