Multi-Jurisdictional Competition Law Enforcement: The Interface Between European Competition Law and the Competition Laws of the New Member States

"On 1 May 2004, ten new Member States joined the European Union. The road to accession has been a challenge in many aspects. The former socialist countries that joined the EU on this date had to create a functioning market economy within a short period of time, which required significant legal and economic changes. Creating a competitive business environment required structural changes in the property regime, as well as trade liberalisation and privatisation. The implementation and enforcement of competition law and policy had a notable role in the transition from planned economy to market economy. Competition policy and competition authorities were the driving forces behind the reform processes and they had a demonstrative role in advocating a new economic governance structure."

"First, in part B, the legal framework of the accession will be described and some insights are provided on the political science discussion of enlargement. Then the impact of enlargement on EC competition law and on the competition laws of the CEECs is discussed. Part C deals with the institutional designs and the recent enforcement methods applied in the CEECs’ competition laws. Part D discusses private enforcement of