Politics and Antitrust/Competition Law in the EU and USA

To what extent do political issues play a role in antitrust/competition law? We consider such interventions in the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA), e.g. political parties, elections, other parts of administrations, Member States and advocates of other policy goals. The European system is more opaque than its United States (US) counterpart and the public record is much richer about what goes in Washington than in Brussels or Luxembourg. The authors consider the similarities and differences between the two systems, how they have changed over time and whether they may change again.