Rethinking EU Competition Policy: From Internal Market Tool to Instrument of Strategic Sovereignty

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[...] Therefore, the question arises of how one can still separate competition and strategy? The European Union seems to answer in the negative by adapting its practices. A functional redefinition of competition in the service of strategic autonomy The institutional responses provided by the Union to adapt its competition policy to the new requirements of resilience and economic sovereignty require analyzing, in particular, the doctrinal developments of the European Commission through its recent communications and the measures taken in strategic sectors. [...]

[...] II- A competition policy in transition: towards a lever of European strategic sovereignty The European competition policy is evolving. It tends to go beyond its sole legal vocation to integrate strategic objectives. It will be a matter of studying first how recent crises have challenged its traditional paradigm before analyzing the first responses provided by the Union in favor of an assumed economic sovereignty The emergence of geopolitical challenges questioning competitive orthodoxy In the process of restructuring, the competitive neutrality that has long guided the European Union's action is now being called into question. [...]

[...] European competition policy is at the heart of these tensions, as evidenced by cases such as Siemens/Alstom in 2019, Google Android in 2022, or the reforms introduced by the Commission in the context of the US Inflation Reduction Act. The question thus arises as to the extent to which the European Union's competition policy remains a simple legal tool in the service of building the internal market, or whether it is moving towards a new function, that of an instrument of strategic sovereignty in a global economic order dominated by power logics. [...]

[...] The Competition Policy of the European Union: A Legal Tool at the Service of the Internal Market or an Instrument of European Sovereignty? Introduction « The internal market implies free and undistorted competition. This formula, although not explicitly inscribed in the founding treaties of the European Union, has long guided European construction. The competition policy, as a fundamental pillar of economic integration, was designed to ensure equal conditions between economic operators and protect the unity of the internal market. The competition policy refers to the set of rules that govern anti-competitive behaviors of companies (cartels, abuse of dominant position), concentrations that may harm competition, as well as state aid granted by member states. [...]

[...] This involves equipping the European Union with a robust legal framework that allows for the regulation of anti-competitive business practices, as well as monitoring the practices of member states. In this sense, the competition policy is a key driver of economic integration. From the outset, the European project is based on the ambition to create an integrated, open and competitive market. Article 3 of the TFEU places non-distorted competition among the Union's fundamental objectives 2. This orientation is not only economic: it is also ideological, as it postulates that competition is the natural vector of integration, guaranteeing freedom, transparency and the optimal allocation of resources. [...]