Executive Summary

Competition law regimes have long been present in industrialized countries, but a large number of emerging economies are now also adopting domestic competition rules. It was estimated that, in 2002, more than 90 countries enacted competition law regimes. The adoption of competition law regimes in developing and emerging economies can be explained by a variety of reasons, such as their participation in regional trade agreements which they request their members to adopt competition law regimes or the adoption of such regimes as part of comprehensive regulatory reforms, such as privatization or market-opening reforms.

Against this background, this study examines the state of adoption and implementation of competition rules in the twelve Mediterranean countries engaged in partnership agreements with the European Commission in the framework of the Barcelona Process. The legal mechanisms organizing this partnership take the form of international cooperation or Association Agreements. These agreements contain provisions regarding the free movement of goods, services and the freedom of establishment, public procurement, payments, economic and financial cooperation, etc. They also replicate the competition rules contained in the Treaty of Rome. Independently of these agreements, some Mediterranean Partners (MPs) have adopted domestic competition law regimes. In some MPs, the adoption of regimes patterned on the competition law of the European Community (EC) was a pre-condition for joining the European Union. In other cases, the development of competition rules was the result of a spontaneous process, although it was generally supported by industrialized countries and their competition authorities, as well as by institutional donors.

This paper seeks to achieve three main objectives. First, it seeks to clarify the content, as well as the overall effectiveness of the competition provisions found in the Association Agreements signed between the EC and the MPs, as well as in the domestic legislation of the MPs. Second, this paper reviews the plans of the European Commission to encourage MPs to engage in a process of regulatory convergence whereby they would progressively approximate their competition rules with EC competition rules. Third, this paper contains a number of policy proposals offering an agenda for further action by the European Commission and other relevant international organizations in the field of competition law in the Mediterranean region.

Chapter 2:...

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