Developments in and around the European Competition Network and cooperation in competition enforcement in the EU : An update

Since 2004, EU competition law has a central place in the competition enforcement practice of the Member States’ competition authorities. At the same time, the Member States’ competition authorities, as well as the review courts that exercise judicial control over their action, make an increasing contribution to the development of EU competition policy. Three years after the Commission’s Report on the first five years of Regulation 1/2003, trends identified in that document have further evolved and certain questions raised have been clarified by case law of the EU courts. This article considers what developments, in terms of institutional structures, procedures, and cases have provided further clarity about the enforcement of competition law in the specific European context in the last three years. The first part describes the evolution in the structure and portfolios of certain NCAs. The second part sets out developments concerning two important notions : the interpretation of the effect on trade concept and the principle of ne bis in idem. The next part reports on the evolution of the mechanisms of cooperation in the framework of the European Competition Network (ECN) and the last part takes a glance at the state of convergence of enforcement tools.