THE EU COMPETITION POLICY – A BRIEF HISTORY IN BETWEEN NEO-FUNCTIONALISM, INTERGOVERNAMENTALISM AND MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNANCE

Abstract

The competition policy represents one of the most important pillars of cooperation between EU Member States, it influenced the design of the European Single Market and it facilitates integration. Even though it shapes the distribution of capital and the investments all over the EU space, the policy is not well-known and even less understood, as it has been built through a complex process, the aim of this paper being to analyse its sinusoidal evolution. In order to better follow its goals, the present article is trying to frame each step of the evolution in one of the following theories of economic integration: neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism or multi-level governance.

Keywords

• European Union; Competition Policy; Integration Theories; Neo-functionalism; Intergovernmentalism; Multi-Level Governance; Single Market.