Prospects for integrating Environmental and Sustainability Goals with European Competition Law and Policy. A focus on Article 101 TFEU

No abstract available

Sustainable development and the fight against climate change represent a top priority both for European institutions and most Member States. With the Communication on “The European Green Deal” released in December 2019, the European Commission identified the response to the ecological crisis and the promotion of a green transition as its new defining mission. Many believe that to achieve these challenging objectives, more robust integration of sustainability concerns into all the Union's policies and activities is required. Moreover, the urgency and complexity of most environmental and sustainability issues impose a shared reaction from national governments, private entities and individuals, as each must do its part. To this respect, in the context growing pressure on the private sector to contribute to achieving sustainability goals, a new perception has emerged, conceiving competition rules as an obstacle to private sustainable initiatives. The main concerns relate to the prohibition set out in article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which, according to an increasing number of commentators, might discourage sustainability collaborations between companies. With these premises, this work aims at exploring the theoretical foundations and operational implications of integrating sustainability concerns into European competition policy. More precisely, two fundamental questions will be examined: i) whether the law of the European Union admits an interpretation of competition rules, and article 101 TFEU in particular, that takes into account sustainability considerations and ii) the extent to which such integration is actually desirable. This work will explore the different perspectives from which this issue can be assessed: the one of environmental policy- makers, willing to find the most effective measures to achieve their goals and targets; that of companies, which are trying to keep pace with the increasing pressure from consumers and investors for more sustainable practices; and lastly, the perspective of competition authorities, which need to prove to be resilient to the future challenges while maintaining their integrity.