With Increased Powers to National Competition Authorities in the EU, Will We have Appropriate Procedural Safeguards too?

By Kaarli H. Eichhorn

Following the recent adoption of the EU’s “ECN+ Directive,” this article highlights the importance of the rule of law in the EU, including in competition proceedings. It applauds the Directive’s many improvements to enhancing national competition enforcement, and contends that due process issues should have received more attention, in parallel with the substantially increased powers given to EU Member State competition authorities. This article finds that a genuinely effective competition regime can only be attained with robust procedural safeguards to accompany the greater powers that competition agencies across Europe will exercise in the future.