Competition law and sustainability: EU and national perspectives

Abstract

Copyright © The Author(s) 2022. Climate change is the crisis of our time affecting every country on every continent. In light of the European Green Deal, ‘sustainability and competition law’ is currently one of the most debated topics in the EU. Therefore, this paper explores the interaction between competition law and sustainability in the EU placing this debate in an historical context embracing both competition law ‘as a shield’ and ‘as a sword’ approaches. Even though the European Commission seems to signal its intention towards more sustainability friendly competition practices, there has not been any expressly stated position yet (except its policy brief). Therefore, most importantly, the paper charts trailblazing national initiatives currently proposed by the EU Member States, such as the Netherlands, Greece, Austria, and Hungary and non-EU Member State—the UK.