“The “hole” in the (antitrust) “doughnut”: governing the Commission’s administrative discretion in antitrust procedures” by Or Brook and Katalin J. Cseres

1.     Priority setting: the wild-west of EU competition law procedure

Setting enforcement priorities by the European Commission and national competition authorities (‘NCAs’) is a crucial component of effective and independent enforcement. As competition authorities are constrained by scarce financial and human resources, it is neither possible, nor desirable, that they enforce every conceivable infringement. The power to choose which cases to pursue and which to disregard frees up resources and affords competition authorities the autonomy and capacity to effectively focus on matters of genuine economic and doctrinal importance.

Priority setting provides an illuminating example of how procedural choices inform substance. Th