Competition Policy and Market Regulation
Competition policy is one of the pillars of the Internal Market and a centre-piece of the Economic Constitution of the European Union. Competition rules protect the process of decentralised decision-making that results from the use of economic liberties.
One of the remarkable success-stories of the European Union is that it has been able to give strength to economic liberties and competition policy as an integrating force. Private practices in restraint of competition are outlawed where they are in violation of competition rules, and market regulation by Member States must be compatible with the free movement rules and a system of open markets and undistorted competition more generally.
The Schuman Centre has long been at the forefront of research with regard to important developments in competition policy and the (ambivalent) role of regulation in creating or restraining competition.
This research concerns the fundamental issues of competition policy—its goals within the European Union, the underpinning legal and economic principles, the structure of legal rules—and covers the whole field ranging from anticompetitive agreements to rules regarding market power, merger control, competition rules addressed to the Member States, state aid rules and public procurement rules.
In the area of market regulation, the topics dealt with by the Schuman Centre range from the legitimacy, structure, failure and successes of 'regulation for competition' that we observe in liberalized markets like energy and telecommunications, to the issue of 'private regulation' with its potentially problematic competitive effects, to the market regulation in the area of corporate law and financial market rules.
The Florence School of Regulation (FSR) is a partnership between the Schuman Centre and the Council of the European Energy Regulators (CEER), working closely with the European Commission and financed by a group of companies interested in regulation. The FSR develops academic research and promotes interaction with decision-makers in public institutions and in companies.
At present, the FSR is focused on the economic regulation of energy, in particular on electricity and gas markets, but it aims to become a reference point for regulatory theory and practice in various sectors.
Themes of interest include the liberalisation of electricity and gas markets, security of supply, the interplay between national and European regulation, development of incentive-based regulation, and environmental issues.
On such themes the School concentrates a discussion of regulatory concepts, practices and policies, to facilitate the dissemination of best practices, an early awareness of new challenges and the development of a common regulatory language and regulatory culture.
Activities include workshops, training courses, an annual conference and a regulatory round table of academics, and additional ad hoc research projects. Fellows in residence and visiting scholars ensure new developments in original research.
This project on EU Competition Law in Legal and Historical Perspectives (EULAH) is the result of a cooperation between the European University Institute and the University of Mannheim.
As one of the very first in its kind it brings together lawyers and historians in the field of EU studies and fosters interdisciplinary cooperation.