This book examines the role and utility of competition law within the EU’s legislative and regulatory dialogue, using its response to crisis conditions as a test of its aims and abilities. As such, its main conclusion is that competition policy acts as a forum for debate as to the direction of the European integration project, while competition law can serve as a tool for aiding in the implementation of broader policy objectives. The analysis here explores the role of the general economic context in the application of competition law, the existence of identifiable baselines applicable in crisis conditions, the ability and role of national competition authorities in applying competition law, and the ways in which the European Commission’s overarching policy goals can influence the application of competition law.

The decision to take an empirical approach to this research project stems from a conviction that an investigation into the real world situations faced by firms and consumers should underpin the evaluation of the applicable legal rules. Over the past number of years, the Commission has exerted more and more influence over the development of the regional and global airline industry, and this book identifies the emergence of an apparent overarching aim on the part of the Commission to create a market with a handful of ultra-competitive airlines with international reach serviced by an array of smaller feeder airlines on a regional basis. The study of Irish beef processing, on the other hand, identifies a high level of government involvement in providing the strategic thinking behind a crisis cartel scheme, and then demonstrates how the economic context exerted considerably more pressure on the government and the national court than on the competition authorities involved.