The Goals of EU Competition Law after Lisbon

The paper will look at two aspects of the question of the goals of EU competition law today. This first aspect relates to the ongoing struggle between a freedom-based approach and an effects-based approach in EU competition law. The second aspect concerns the changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty: Article 3(3) TEU as amended by the Lisbon Treaty, compared to ex-Article 3(1) TEC, no longer includes a system of undistorted competition. The current Article 3(3) TEU is yet to be read in conjunction with Protocol No 27 on the Internal Market and Competition attached to the Lisbon Treaty which states that “the internal market as set out in Article 3 TEU includes a system ensuring that competition is not distorted”. Against this backdrop, a brief overview will be provided on the position taken by the Commission and the Court of Justice in relation to the goals of EU competition law in the light of diverging competition law cultures among the Member States. Furthermore, the paper will evaluate the legal and political effects of the elimination of competition as a goal of the EU Treaty and assess the significance of this change for both a freedom-based and an instrumental view of EU competition law.