Rethinking the history of European level merger control. A critical political economy perspective Hubert Buch-Hansen Supervisor: Morten Ougaard Department of Intercultural Communication and Management CBS 2 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................................... 7 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. THE PURPOSE OF THE THESIS .......................................................................................................................... 10 1.2. OUTLINE OF THE THESIS ................................................................................................................................. 13 1.3. SOURCES ........................................................................................................................................................ 15 1.4. INTENDED CONTRIBUTIONS ............................................................................................................................ 18 2. BEYOND RATIONALISM AND CONSTRUCTIVISM: THE CRITICAL REALIST ALTERNATIVE .. 20 2.1. PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE ................................................................................................................................ 20 2.2. THE RATIONALIST PARADIGM IN EU STUDIES ................................................................................................. 27 2.3. THE CONSTRUCTIVIST PARADIGM IN EU STUDIES ........................................................................................... 32 2.4. BRINGING IN CRITICAL REALISM ..................................................................................................................... 38 2.5. FROM PHILOSOPHY TO THEORY ... ................................................................................................................... 44 2.6. CONCLUDING REMARKS ................................................................................................................................. 49 3. THEORISING REGULATION. A CRITICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY PERSPECTIVE ....................... 50 3.1. CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN EU STUDIES ........................................................................................................ 50 3.2. CAPITALISM AND COMPETITION ..................................................................................................................... 53 3.3. AGENCY : CLASS AND BEYOND ........................................................................................................................ 57 3.4. REGULATION AND IDEAS ................................................................................................................................ 60 3.5. STATES AND SUPRANATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ................................................................................................. 66 3.6. PROGRAMMING INSTITUTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 70 3.7. PUTTING THEORY TO WORK ............................................................................................................................ 74 3.8. CONCLUDING REMARKS ................................................................................................................................. 77 4. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A EUROPEAN LEVEL COMPETITION UNIT OF REGULATION ......... 79 4.1. EMBEDDED LIBERALISM ................................................................................................................................. 79 4.2. COMPETITION POLICY IN GERMANY ’S “SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY” ............................................................. 82 4.3. COMPETITION POLICY IN FRANCE ’S STATE -LED FORM OF CAPITALISM ........................................................... 84 4.4. THE FIRST STEP : COMPETITION POLICY AND THE ECSC TREATY .................................................................... 88 4.5. THE NEXT STEP : COMPETITION POLICY AND THE EC TREATY ......................................................................... 99 4.6. REGULATION 17 ........................................................................................................................................... 106 4.7. IN CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 109 5. THE 1960 AND 1970S: MERGER CONTROL IN THE ERA OF EMBEDDED LIBERALISM .............. 114 5.1. EMBEDDED LIBERALISM AND THE AMERICAN CHALLENGE .......................................................................... 114 5.2. EUROPEAN INTEGRATION IN THE 1960 S AND 1970 S ..................................................................................... 119 5.3. MERGER CONTROL IN FRANCE AND GERMANY ............................................................................................ 122 5.4. MERGER CONTROL IN THE UK ...................................................................................................................... 128 5.5. EC MERGER CONTROL ? ................................................................................................................................ 132 5.6. THE STAGNATION OF THE EC COMPETITION UNIT OF REGULATION ............................................................... 141 5.7. IN CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 144 6. THE 1980S: THE NEOLIBERAL TURN AND THE EC MERGER CONTROL REGULATION ........... 148 6.1. THE CRISIS OF EMBEDDED LIBERALISM ......................................................................................................... 148 6.2. THE NEOLIBERAL TURN AND NATIONAL MERGER CONTROL .......................................................................... 150 6.3. EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND THE ERT ...................................................................................................... 153 6.4. THE REVITALISATION AND TRANSFORMATION OF THE EC COMPETITION UNIT OF REGULATION ................... 158 6.5. MOVING TOWARDS AN EC MERGER REGULATION ........................................................................................ 162 6.6. THE CHANGED POSITION OF CAPITAL ACTORS .............................................................................................. 168 6.7. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN EC MERGER SUB -UNIT OF REGULATION ........................................................... 179 6.8. IN CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 189 3 7. THE 1990S AND ONWARDS: MERGER CONTROL IN THE ERA OF NEOLIBERAL HEGEMONY 192 7.1. NEOLIBERALISM AND THE TRANSNATIONALISATION OF CAPITAL ................................................................. 192 7.2. EUROPEAN INTEGRATION IN THE 1990 S ONWARDS ....................................................................................... 197 7.3. EC COMPETITION REGULATION IN NEOLIBERAL TIMES ................................................................................. 201 7.4. THE “MODERNISATION ” OF REGULATION 17 ................................................................................................ 210 7.5. THE “E UROPEANISATION ” OF NATIONAL MERGER CONTROL ........................................................................ 215 7.6. EC MERGER REGULATION IN THE 1990 S ONWARDS ...................................................................................... 222 7.7. REFORMING THE EC MERGER SUBUNIT OF REGULATION .............................................................................. 232 7.8. IN CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 247 7.9. POSTSCRIPT : CHALLENGES TO NEOLIBERAL COMPETITION REGULATION ...................................................... 249 8. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 256 8.1. THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN LEVEL MERGER CONTROL : SUMMARISING THE ARGUMENT .............................. 256 8.2. REFLECTIONS ON THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN LEVEL MERGER CONTROL ..................................................... 263 8.3. THEORISING THE EVOLUTION OF EC COMPETITION POLICY : THE EXISTING LITERATURE .............................. 270 8.4. COMPETITION AND COMPETITION POLICY : AN ALTERNATIVE AGENDA ......................................................... 274 9. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................... 283 9.1. LEGAL SOURCES (CHRONOLOGICALLY ORDERED ) ........................................................................................ 303 10. APPENDIXES ..................................................................................................................................................... 304 APPENDIX I: ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .......................................................................................................... 304 APPENDIX II: COMMISSIONERS OF COMPETITION 1958-2008 ....................................................................................