Antitrust, Mergers, State Aid and Consumer policy under the same umbrella – does a political compromise prevails to expert approach?

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The aim of this contribution is to provide critical view on different challenges in broader competition law and policy with specific regard to institutional capacities of authorities  being in charge of competition protection, either in competition law enforcement or in advocacy activities.

The paper further elaborates on different challenges with regard to introduction and protection of competition law and policy as well as different competences of competition authorities on one hand and sector regulators on the other hand, nevertheless having in mind the expected common result, more competitive environment, leading to efficient economy and consumers’ benefit.  

The benefits of efficient competition law and policy are sometimes not properly recognized and  Proper understanding of protected category under the competition law and policy still remains a specific challenge and sometimes less efficient system of competition and consumer protection as desired and necessary The paper does not provide for specific suggestions how relevant authorities could be organized; nevertheless some specific challenges are highlighted, some of them perhaps in a provocative way, especially with regard to the question what is a protected category under the competition law and policy and the functional independence of the authorities concerned.