From the outset, competition policy has been perceived as one of the EU’s main structural tools, assuring a competitive, modern and performing internal market. While its preeminence was never disputed, its objectives were. Traditionally, two approaches to the study of competition policy have been used: (i) The
Ordoliberal School, with roots in the 1930s, does not consider competition policy from an exclusively economic angle, but rather perceives it in its full socio‐political complexity. According to
Ordoliberals, individual freedoms are not only threatened by public power, but also by private power.
Ordoliberals suggest that the latter can be controlled by competition law, aiding the realisation of a true market economy and, ultimately, a liberal society. (ii) The 1990s witnessed the birth of a contradictory intellectual current, the so-called More Economic Approach. Its focus lies on strict economic goals, especially consumer benefits, rather than socio‐political considerations.
Against the backdrop of the current economic crisis, the above cleavage is of fundamental importance when it comes to finding appropriate remedies. In this vein, the paper will assess the precise role competition law can and should play in a changing economic setting, paying particular attention to its objectives. Such assessment is timely as, arguably, the current economic environment demands effective checks and balances vis-à-vis the overwhelming economic power concentrated in relatively few multinational conglomerates.
The paper will undertake to (i) assess the hitherto development of competition law's theoretical underpinnings; (ii) appraise the influence such approaches have exercised upon jurisprudence; and (iii) consider possible ways forward.
