A volume that takes stock and looks ahead on the development and implementation of competition policy in the European Union fifty years after the Treaty of Rome. Competition policy has emerged as a key policy in the EU with competition acting as the driving force for economic efficiency and the welfare of citizens. Case law has been established to control and prevent anti-competitve behavior, state aid control has consolidated and evolved towards a more economic approach, and the authority of the EC and the judicial review of the Court of the First Instance (CFI) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) are firmly etsablished.

The book provides an economic approach to competition policy and reflects the main areas of interest, open issues and progress in the area. The volume examines the design of competition policy institutions, the evolution of the implementation of competition policy and its convergence or divergence with US practice, restrictive practices, cartels, abuse of dominance, merger control and state aids. The volume also analyses the interaction of competition policy and regulation, and studies its application to telecoms, banking and energy sectors. All chapters are written by leadfing specialists combining theoretical with practical knowledge and discussing the underpinings of the application of law.