The emerging principles of international competition law

Abstract

International competition law exists because the world is divided into states with exclusive territorial jurisdiction. Many firms now operate in complex legal environments, where several states may regulate the same activity against a background of international law. International competition law, therefore, is not simply a scaled up version of national competition law applied to international markets. The defining problems of international competition law revolve around fragmented and overlapping authority and the collision of national interests. International competition law has grown in importance as national economies have become more integrated at the same time as national competition laws proliferated and enforcement efforts strengthened. International competition law "problems" arise where one county perceives that the way that another country does or does not apply its competition law adversely affects its interests. It is the thesis of this study that there is an evolving international competition law "system", albeit a somewhat chaotic system. The international competition law "system" embraces all national and international laws and institutions related to competition law and its application. States are only beginning to see the system as a whole and struggling to identify where their long-term interests lie. This study describes the elements of the system and their interaction, and explains how the system is evolving, with the view to suggesting what states, individually and collectively, could do to modify the system to the advantage of ill states. A set of principles is shown to be emerging in international competition law. The focus is on identifying and eliminating or reducing the international competition law problems, without proselytising any particular approach to national competition law.