ABSTRACT
DGIV has the ability to impose sanctions on Member States or firms by way of a Commission Decision, without firstly referring the issue to the European Parliament, Council or European Court of Justice. DGIV ‘polices’ the single market, ‘to ensure that its benefits reach the ordinary citizen’. If DGIV decides to commence an investigation into a particular firm it will request information from relevant parties. Hoffman-La Roche 1979, provided the jurisprudence which enables DGIV to apply a definition of a dominant market position. DGIV may, by use of Directives and Decisions, enforce the competition provisions of the Treaty of Rome. However the prominence of DGIV has been built up, by the use of jurisprudence, and by ‘secret jurisprudence’ by way of unofficial ‘Comfort Letters.’ The change in the procedure of policy formulation for air transport as a result of the Treaty of Amsterdam presented, and continues to present a potential problem for those involved in revision of the slot-allocation Regulation.
