National Competition Policy and International Competitiveness

The debate on an international harmonization and centralization of competition law and policy touches two crucial issues. Firstly, one has to analyze the necessity and the modalities of an international harmonization and centralization in antitrust. This issue focuses on the question whether international competition rules are inevitable to protect national and international competition. Chapter 2 has dealt with this question. Secondly, one has to take into account the positive and negative effects which could result from an international harmonization and centralization of competition law and policy. With regard to this task, this investigation focuses on negative effects on the international competitiveness of nations. Both aspects - i.e. the analysis of the necessity of international competition rules and the description of possible negative effects - have to be weighed against each other, so that even if there were some arguments in favour of international competition rules, the importance of national competition policy for the international competitiveness of a nation probably could be taken as a justification for keeping up national competition policy.