DG IV and the origins of a supranational competition policy: Establishing an economic constitution for Europe

Political scientists Michelle Cini and Lee McGowan state that ‘Competition policy is one of the least understood of all the European Union’s policies. [I]t has only recently been subjected to systematic scrutiny from a political and public administration perspective’1 and – one could add – from a historian’s perspective.2

However, this lack of attention does not reflect the importance of this policy. Also referred to as ‘the first supranational policy in the European Union’,3 competition policy is a field where the European Commission has acquired extensive powers that can have direct impact on enterprises and individuals in the member-states.