The adoption of Regulation 1/2003 marked a new era in EU competition

enforcement. Since its entry into force, the work of practitioners has radically

changed, the Commission's priorities have shifted towards cartels

and high profile abuse of dominance cases, notifications have been abolished

and new, negotiated, procedures such as settlements, have been

introduced. Moreover, the relationship between national and European

law has become more complex, the number of stakeholders has increased

rapidly and private enforcement has slowly, but relentlessly, taken

momentum.

The purpose of the present book is to contribute in a timely manner to

the Commission's own assessment of possible needs for the reform of

Regulation 1/2003. Taking stock of five years of experience under

Regulation 1, this book examines the problems that arose from its implementation

and formulates public policy recommendations, advocating

for future reform in the field.

To this end, this book contains the reports prepared ahead of the 2009

Annual Conference of the Global Competition Law Centre (GCLC) on the

review of Regulation 1. Those report, which were drafted by more than

60 lawyers from both private practice and academia, are followed by the

comments of Commission officials.