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Sérvulo Correia, José Manuel --- "The Effectiveness and Limitations of the Portuguese System of Competition Law Enforcement by Administrative and Civil Procedural Means" [2010] ELECD 356; in Mateus, M. Abel; Moreira, Teresa (eds), "Competition Law and Economics" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Competition Law and Economics

Editor(s): Mateus, M. Abel; Moreira, Teresa

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848449992

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: The Effectiveness and Limitations of the Portuguese System of Competition Law Enforcement by Administrative and Civil Procedural Means

Author(s): Sérvulo Correia, José Manuel

Number of pages: 38

Extract:

8. The effectiveness and limitations of
the Portuguese system of competition
law enforcement by administrative
and civil procedural means
José Manuel Sérvulo Correia

I. INTRODUCTION

The very first lines of the Green Paper on damages actions for breach of
the EC antitrust rules1 state that competition law enforcement is a key
element in the Lisbon Strategy, which aims at growth in the European
Union economy and job creation for the citizens of Europe. This is
because vigorous competition in an open internal market represents the
best guarantee that European companies will increase their productivity
and their potential to innovate.2
On the basis of this assumption, the European Commission has been
developing various initiatives with a view to activating the effective appli-
cation of competition law in the European area. But combined with this
aim is the idea that the Commission's ability to intervene on a case-by-case
basis is not unlimited. Accordingly, it is of the greatest importance for
Member States to be increasingly involved in this programme, through the
action not only of the national competition authorities (NCAs) but also
the branches of the legal system.3


1 Green Paper on damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules,

COM(2005)672 final of 19 December 2005, henceforth Green Paper.
2 Ibid., p. 3. This is likewise stated in paragraph 11 of the Commission Staff

Working Paper ­ Annex to the Green Paper on damages actions for breach of the
EC antitrust rules, COM(2005) ...