ABSTRACT
The empirical findings presented in the previous chapters demonstrate that EU competition policy has been stringent since the 1990s with the exception of state aid control. Based on this observation, this chapter concludes that the supranational institutional setting, which was originally established to regulate the European single market, is the main factor hindering the external use of EU competition rules in a neo-mercantilist way. In other words, the maintenance of a level-playing field in the single market remains to be the EU's priority, despite the emphasis on the promotion of international competitiveness in its various political statements and policy documents. Furthermore, the chapter offers further reflections on the European Commission's commitment to stringent competition regulations, their external implications, and the usefulness of the concept of stringent competition regulation for the analysis of other jurisdictions. Finally, the chapter sketches ongoing political debates about the reform of EU competition rules and reflects on the challenges posed by the outbreak of COVID-19 to the EU's stringent competition policy.
