This lecture will try to answer how decisive the EU Competition Policy will be in the following years, given the deep changes in European Economies caused by the technological and social transformations. It will present the ongoing main issues in the EU Commission competition agenda from a wider historical perspective.
In the recent years, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other IT American companies have been showing their discontent with the European Union Commission policies and its treatment of US companies. Robert Stake, a US Treasury official in charge of international tax policy, recently said after the meeting with new competition officials in Brussels: “We are concerned that the EU Commission appears to be disproportionately targeting US companies”. This debate shows the importance of the EU Competition Policy and the role that the EU Commission plays not only within the EU member states, but all over the world. How important is this policy today for the European Single Market? What were the main evolutions since the original Council Regulation 17/1962?
