The European Commission published yesterday a Staff Working Document (‘SWD') summarising the findings of the evaluation of the EU Regulations which lay out the procedures for the application of EU competition rules (Regulation 1/2003 and Regulation 773/2004, together the ‘Regulations').
The Regulations set out the procedural framework for the implementation of EU competition rules laid down in Articles 101 and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (‘TFEU'). They have played a crucial role in the enforcement of EU antitrust rules since their entry into force 20 years ago.
Between 1 May 2004 and August 2024, the Commission has adopted 225 enforcement decisions, either finding an infringement of EU competition rules or accepting commitments that would remove its preliminary concerns. The Commission has imposed fines of over €42 billion under Regulation 1/2003, approximately €37 billion of which has been upheld by the EU Courts. Between 2012 and 2021, the estimated total customer savings from all cartel and antitrust interventions by the Commission were between €50 to €87 billion.
Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “The existing EU antitrust enforcement framework has been a resounding success. Regulation 1/2003 upgraded the Commission's investigative and decision-making toolkit. It amplified the application of EU competition rules by empowering national competition authorities to enforce them, fostering a common competition culture within the European Competition Network. At the same time, the evaluation identified areas for further reflection, to ensure that our enforcement tools keep up with the transformative changes of digitalisation and to ensure swift antitrust enforcement.”
