Abstract
Regulation 1/2003, applicable since 1 May 2004, has been one of the most far-reaching EU competition policy reforms in the history of European integration. The long-standing centralised administrative ex ante notification regime for commercial intercompany agreements was replaced by a decentralised ex post private enforcement regime. This essentially altered the way in which anticompetitive conduct, such as cartels and other restrictive business practices, are prosecuted. Companies can no longer rely on the official Commission decision prior to concluding contractual agreements with other companies, but are increasingly exposed to the risk of being litigated by other market actors in civil disputes, a jeopardy that, so far, has constituted a relatively alien feature in the EU. The 2004 reform reflects a major step of legal convergence towards the US antitrust regime, which has private enforcement as one of its most characteristic features. Regulation 1/2003, however, formed only the prelude of further reform proposals. Further reform steps appear on the horizon. The Green and White Paper of 2005 and 2008 aim at further institutionalising, and thus, consolidating a pan-European system of private enforcement. The article examines the underlying interest constellation that has shaped this reform process, and demonstrates and explains the important role played by a community of transnational legal and economic competition experts.
