Competition authorities are increasingly interested in understanding the impact of their activities on markets and consumers. The goal is to improve competition policy rules and decision-making practices and to get robust evidence on the benefits of competition and competition policy for society as a whole. Discussions with competition authorities, practitioners and academics have shown the need to take stock of the experience gained in this field by the European Commission and to present it in an easily accessible way. The studies collected in this volume – prepared by senior Commission officials and competition policy experts – range from the ex post evaluation of specific policy interventions to the assessment of the broader impact of competition policy. The issues and topics examined include the following: objectives and scope of evaluations by the European Commission; description of counterfactual evaluation techniques used; conditions for a successful ex post evaluation of a competition policy intervention; a wide selection of individual cases covering a variety of economic sectors; applications in merger control, antitrust and State aid; direct benefits of competition policy interventions for consumers; deterrent effects of such interventions on market participants; and macroeconomic outcomes in terms of job creation, productivity and GDP growth. This matchless book assembles within a single volume all that is needed for competition policy analysts and practitioners to undertake ex post economic evaluations. While its collection of state-of-the-art ex post evaluation studies has a clear value for competition authorities, it is sure to be welcomed as well by competition law practitioners in the private sector, who will greatly appreciate the effort made to cast a critical eye on decisions taken in the past. Moreover, it allows for addressing some of the new challenges facing competition policymakers. Fabienne Ilzkovitz is Principal Advisor responsible for the economic evaluation of competition policy within the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission, and since 2014, she has coordinated various ex post evaluation projects in the Directorate-General. She is also Associate Professor of Economics in the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. Adriaan Dierx is Senior Expert on ex post economic evaluation within the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission. He has managed a number of studies aimed at assessing the economic impact of the European Commission’s competition policy interventions.

Competition authorities use ex post evaluation of enforcement decisions to help determine if an intervention (or non-intervention) has achieved its objectives – and, if not, the reasons it failed to do so – thus allowing for improvement in the design and use of techniques used in the analysis underpinning the decision. In this essential volume, expert contributors use this procedure to provide a neutral and extensive assessment of cases that have significantly shaped European Union (EU) competition law enforcement. With in-depth analysis of foundational cases of EU competition law and the methodologies that have been developed over time to predict how enforcement decisions will affect competition, for each case the authors respond thoroughly to such questions as the following: Did the decision have an impact on the affected market? Did it improve consumer or social welfare? With the benefit of hindsight, were the factual assertions true? Were all the relevant theories of harm (and efficiency justifications) properly investigated? Was the decision able to deter similar anticompetitive behaviour? Did the decision provide clear guidance on which types of conduct should be deemed illegal? Industries covered include information technology (the Microsoft cases), payment cards (the Visa Europe 2010 Commitments Decision), pharmaceuticals, and conditional rebates (Michelin I, Michelin II and BA/Virgin). Also investigated are the role of buyer power in concentration cases and the relative strength of competition law enforcement versus regulation, where appropriate. In its accumulation of evidence from individual cases that have gradually improved our ability to grasp the connections between policy choices and the outcomes they lead to, this matchless volume has no peers. It constitutes an invaluable resource for competition authorities in performing ex post evaluations and will be welcomed by practitioners and academics concerned with European competition law.

"Given this increased interest in the evaluation of competition policy, this paper reviews the academic literature on and the experience of CAs with ex-post economic evaluations of competition policy with a view to summarising what we have learnt so far and what are areas for further research. This executive summary includes four main parts. Part A covers the main lessons to be learnt for ex-post evaluation practice. Parts B and C summarise the main conclusions drawn from the empirical work on the micro- and macro-economic impact of competition policy, respectively. Finally, part D proposes areas for further research."--p. 9.

Competition policy is an integral and prominent part of economic policy-making in the European Union. The EU Treaty prescribes its member states to conduct economic policy ‘in accordance with the principle of an open market economy with free competition’. More precisely, the goal of EU competition policy is “to defend and develop effective competition in the common market” (European Commission, 2000: 7). Under its Commissioners van Miert, Monti and, most - cently, Kroes the EU Commission has stepped up its effort to pursue and achieve the aforementioned goal. A number of so-called hard-core cartels, such as the - torious “vitamin cartel” led by Roche, have been detected, tried in violation of Art. 81 of the Maastricht Accord and punished with severe fines. Also Microsoft was hit hard by the strong hand of the Commission having been severely fined for - ploiting a dominant market position. Economic analysis has been playing an increasingly significant role in the Commission’s examination of competition law cases. This holds true in particular for merger control. Here, however, the Commission has had to accept some poi- ant defeats in court, such as the Court’s reversals of Airtours-First Choice or GE- Honeywell. Among other things, the European Court of Justice found the e- nomic analysis as conducted by the EU’s Directorate General for Competition to be flawed and the conclusions drawn not to be convincing. These rejections by the courts have stirred up the scholarly debate on the conceptual foundations of Eu- pean competition policy.

Twenty years of experience have inevitably brought to light challenges and tensions in the enforcement of the European merger control system. Some of these challenges have been faced, some have been solved and some remain latent. This very valuable study starts from the proposition that the EU has never fully acknowledged those fundamental challenges which relate to the rationale behind merger control in Europe. The author shows how the Commission's focus on adapting the rules of merger control to the economic realities of the future business environment, although designed with a view to facilitating European integration, has compromised attainment of legal certainty, transparency and welfare enhancement. In its detailed evaluation of the 'future market structure prediction process' embedded in European merger control policy, this book approaches two rock-bottom, far-reaching questions: In what ways does merger control promote consumer and societal welfare? Is the Commission able to correctly predict the outcome of any given concentration transaction? These considerations take the reader through a deep and searching analysis that calls into question the very credibility and transparency of the system, leading to alternatives which promise a new clarity of purpose and procedure. The author describes how these recommendations can be integrated into the functioning framework of the European project. Taken fully into account along the way is a wide spectrum of relevant source material, including the following: applicable articles and chapters of the founding and subsequent European Treaties; secondary European legislation concerning competition and merger activity; domestic competition laws; guidelines, notices and action plans; competition law reviews, statements of intentions; draft legislative attempts; speeches on the enactment and purpose of merger control; Member States' views concerning European merger control as expressed during Council negotiations; officially available concentration-related statistics; and a wide-ranging literature review covering both the legal and economic sides of merger control. Throughout, the author substantiates theoretical assertions with case law examples, clearly exposing doctrines arising from such cases as Continental Can, Phillip Morris/Rothmans and the Airtours, Schneider and Tetra Laval trilogy. A unique feature of the analysis draws on the author's personal experience while working for a Brussels competition law firm. This book is a remarkable compound of academic guide to the roots and rationales of the European Merger Control System, practical guide to the day-to-day intricacies of merger control enforcement, and 'raw' guide for decision makers and merger control law enforcers. It will be of immense value in all three contexts.