Online ISSN 2286-0266
Print ISSN 1223-0685
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Andreas STAMATE-ŞTEFAN
Academia de Studii Economice din Bucureşti
Mihai-Vladimir TOPAN
Academia de Studii Economice din Bucureşti
The purpose of the present paper is to present the inherent theoretical presuppositions of the European Competition Policy (ECP) and to offer a critical appraisal of them. In addition, the paper advances the catallactic competition model as a possible alternative theoretical framework to be used in enforcing ECP. The research is divided into three main parts. In its first part, we offer a short retrospective view of the main events that led to the creation of EU competition policy, and also a critical appraisal of the two referential articles (101 and 102, The Treaty of Rome) for EU competition. It will be shown – certainly not as a historical proof, but more as a theoretical deductive judgment – that these two pillars of EU competition are already designed to serve a certain theoretical thought, which is the perfect competition model, product of neoclassical economics. Therefore, a potential mission to reform ECP is bound to exist within the constraints of the non-realist assumptions of the perfect model. Or, in a generous sense, within the constraints imposed by later developments of perfect competition model. This is to say that future options to revise or reform ECP must also mean a reconsideration of article 101 and 102. The second part is dedicated to a presentation of the main theoretical influences on European competition policy and the differences between them. A reference is also made to a recent fashion in enforcing competition law, namely the necessity (of the lawyers and courts) to have more economic-based decisions when judging competition issues. The third part delivers a new perspective on enforcing competition rules by exposing the model of catallactic competition which is advanced as a possible proxy for the enforcement of ECP.

ŒCONOMICA no. 2/2015
Keywords: EU competition policy, perfect competition, catallactic competition, political entrepreneurship
JEL: B10, B20, D40, D78
The Economic Theory of European Competition Policy. Retrospectives and Perspectives [Teoria economică a politicii europene a concurenţei. Retrospective şi perspective]