Malinauskaite, Jurgita --- "International Competition Law Harmonisation and The WTO: Past, Present and Future" [2012] ELECD 362; in Andenas, Mads; Andersen, Baasch Camilla (eds), "Theory and Practice of Harmonisation" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Theory and Practice of Harmonisation

Editor(s): Andenas, Mads; Andersen, Baasch Camilla

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849800013

Section: Chapter 18

Section Title: International Competition Law Harmonisation and The WTO: Past, Present and Future

Author(s): Malinauskaite, Jurgita

Number of pages: 29

Extract:

18. International competition law
harmonisation and the WTO: past,
present and future
Jurgita Malinauskaite*

INTRODUCTION
The globalisation process together with technological advancements, dilu-
tion of trade barriers and liberalisation as well as privatisation programmes,
has shaped the global landscape, which has resulted in the augmentation of
cross-border businesses. The expansion of businesses beyond national bor-
ders has raised the issues of international anti-competitive practices. On the
one hand, businesses are becoming international, whereas competition laws
are national with their curbs and limits. Due to these boundaries, national
competition authorities are unable to address international anti-competitive
behaviour effectively, especially if the authority lacks experience, knowl-
edge or resources and does not have vision when the anti-competitive issues
transcend their domestic boundaries. As a result, some international anti-
competitive transactions can escape effective regulatory mechanism, which
is known as under-regulation. On the other hand, globalisation and therefore
international anti-competitive practices have driven competition authorities
to apply their laws beyond national boundaries. Many countries have intro-
duced the extra-territoriality principle, where national competition authorities
apply their domestic law to extra-territorial conduct that has effects in their
nations. Hence, extra-territorial effects of competition bring various coun-
tries' competition laws into contact and quite often into confrontation. Apart
from the harm that may be caused to the relationships between the different
countries, conflicting results may be damaging to the firms concerned, as their
transactions are subjected to investigation by various competition authorities
worldwide. This phenomenon is ...