Competition law is one of the areas of authority of the European Union. It comprises three main policy areas:

• Antitrust: control of collusion and other anti-competitive behaviour which has an effect on the EU (or, since 1994, the European Economic Area).
• Mergers: control of proposed mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures involving companies which have a certain, defined amount of turnover in the EU/EEA.
• State aid: control of direct and indirect aid given by EU Member States to companies.

This last point is a unique characteristic of the EU competition law regime. As the EU is made up of independent member states, both competition policy and the creation of the European single market could be rendered ineffective were member states free to support national companies as they saw fit. Antitrust or competition laws, legislate against trade practices that are claimed to undermine competitiveness or are considered to be unfair. ... In the study of economics, collusion takes place within an industry when rival companies cooperate for their mutual benefit. ... Anti-competitive practices are business practices that prevent and/or reduce competition in a market. ... The European Economic Area (EEA) came into being on January 1, 1994 following an agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Union (EU). ... The phrase mergers and acquisitions or M&A refers to the aspect of corporate finance strategy and management dealing with the merging and acquiring of different companies as well as assets. ... EU member states and candidates in 2004 // Current members There are currently 25 member states in the European Union. ... A single market is a customs union with common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of all the factors of production (goods, services, capital and labour). ...

Primary competence for applying EU competition law rests with European Commission and its Directorate General for Competition, although state aids in some sectors, such as transport, are handled by other Directorates General. On 1 May 2004 a decentralised regime for antitrust came into force which is intended to increase the application of EU competition law by national competition authorities and national courts. The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive of the European Union. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Rulings

• 2001, July. The EU rules against a General Electric Honeywell merger ([1]).

• 2004, December. The EU rules against a Energias de Portugal SA Gas de Portugal SA merger.

• 2004, December. The EU rules to force Microsoft to offer a Microsoft Windows version without the Windows Media Player preinstalled within the European Union.

The General Electric Company, or GE, NYSE: GE is a multinational technology and services company. ... Honeywell NYSE: HON is a major American multinational corporation that produces electronic control systems and automation equipment. ... Jump to: navigation, search Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is the worlds largest software company, with global annual sales in the tens of billions of US dollars and nearly 60,000 employees in more than 90 countries. ... Jump to: navigation, search Microsoft Windows is a range of operating environments for personal computers and servers. ... Windows Media Player is a free software media player used for playing audio and video on personal computers running Microsoft Windows. ...

External links

• European Commission's competition law site
• Eu law blog