ABSTRACT

From its inception to the present day, the promotion of free competition has been one of the main pillars of the European Community. The fundamental nature of the impact of the system is revealed in the fact that its provisions are both 'directly applicable' and 'directly effective'. In the working of the competition regime, three institutions are principally involved: the Council of Ministers, the Council of Ministers (the supreme legislative body); the Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice. The fundamental provisions are to be found in Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty of Rome. While Article 85 is concerned with the distortion of competition by means of concerted activity, Article 86 deals with its distortion via concentrated economic power. It prohibits, as being incompatible with the common market in so far as it may affect trade between member States, any abuse of a dominant position by one or more undertakings.