About the report:
Analysis of the activities of the EU Competition Directorate in terms of the "geographical" allocation of the cases it deals with. The report presents the main goals and values that guide the economic policy of the European Union, as well as an attempt to answer the question of whether the so-called the old states of the Community are privileged over the new members of the EU. As the Competition Directorate is responsible both for bringing cases against Member States and against businesses, both of the above areas of Commission activity are analysed.
Key conclusions:
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Competition Directorate's decisions indicates the possibility of unequal treatment of the "old" and "new" states of the EU and their companies.
- Companies from countries that joined the EU after 2004 try to use the EU antitrust law more often than companies from the “old EU” to stop their competitors from abusing their dominant position. However, the Competition Directorate usually dismisses their complaints.
- Under the EU's state aid policy, for which the Competition Directorate is responsible in the European Commission, the old EU countries are treated on preferential terms. The subsidies they grant are questioned by the Commission much less frequently than in the case of the new EU countries - both in terms of amounts and the number of decisions.