In a technical sense, EC competition policy covers what is known in many countries as cartel law or, as in the United States, ‘anti-trust law’. The latter term was adopted because in the late nineteenth century, when anti-trust law was ‘invented’, most American cartels were established in the form of trusts. EC competition law rests on the triad of a cartel ban contained in Article 81 TEC, a prohibition on market abuse in Article 82 TEC and merger control legislation. All three branches of EC competition law are handled by DG IV, now DG Competition, as the Directorate-General for Competition supporting the responsible Commissioner for Competition is known.

In a broader sense, other Community law also contributes to the overall aim of creating conditions for fair competition within the Common Market, these include:

1. (1) treaty provisions on free movement as a framework prohibiting mainly public restrictions on the free circulation of goods and services, such as duties and quantitative restrictions and their equivalent counterparts;

2. (2) special competition rules for public undertakings in Article 86 TEC; and

3. (3) the identification and justification or elimination of subsidies provided for in the state aid provisions of Articles 87–89 TEC.

What are the economic rationales for the EC's emphasis on competition policy?

As the American debate about the wisdom of anti-trust policies demonstrates, there is still controversy over the need to intervene in the free play of market forces in order to maintain fair competition.