Multi-Level Governance in Competition Policy: The European Competition Network

Abstract

This article analyses the general characteristics and practical cooperation mechanisms of the European Competition Network (ECN) as well as the initial experiences of policy enforcement through this network in the light of and in response to the European Commission Report on the Functioning of Regulation 1/2003. In general, this analysis is positive regarding the initial experiences of ECN. The article, however, finds significant accountability and due process problems caused in particular by the opacity of network management. Primarily, the article argues that, as an unintended consequence of Modernisation, EU competition policy has become vulnerable to the general systemic problems of multi-level governance.