Democracy and Competition Law: Exploring Substantive and Procedural Links in a Time of Populism
2:00pm - 3:30pm /
Monday 11th March 2024
/ Venue: Ground Floor - Event Space School of Law & Social Justice
Type: Seminar /
Category: Research
- Marketing, Recruitment and Events
- Admission: Free to attend, please register
- Event website
- Book now
Add this event to my calendar
Click on "Create a calendar file" and your browser will download a .ics file for this event.
Microsoft Outlook: Download the file, double-click it to open it in Outlook, then click on "Save & Close" to save it to your calendar. If that doesn't work go into Outlook, click on the File tab, then on Open & Export, then Open Calendar. Select your .ics file then click on "Save & Close".
Google Calendar: download the file, then go into your calendar. On the left where it says "Other calendars" click on the arrow icon and then click on Import calendar. Click on Browse and select the .ics file, then click on Import.
Apple Calendar: The file may open automatically with an option to save it to your calendar. If not, download the file, then you can either drag it to Calendar or import the file by going to File >Import > Import and choosing the .ics file.
Speaker: Maciej Bernatt
(In collaboration with the Economic Governance Unit)
If one considers the weaknesses of democracies as one of the biggest challenges for today’s democratic world, one of the key questions is whether and how competition law can help in safeguarding democratic legal order. In other words, the question is about pro-democratic role of competition law. This question is both about the substance of law and the institutional-procedural settings of its enforcement. Therefore, I argue in this paper, first, that the substantive and the procedural dimensions of competition law-democracy link can be distinguished and, second, that competition can play a pro-democratic role if rule of law is safeguarded. As far as the substantive dimension of competition law-democracy link is concerned, I will explain that it is related to the competition law’s role to provide a check on the use of market power by private firms on markets where economic and political power is intermingled. In addition, I will show that the substantive dimension is about competition law's role to safeguard that private firms, in particular digital platforms and media companies, give consumers an access to diverse sources of information. Finally, I will argue that the substantial dimension is about competition law’s role to promote socio-economic and environmental values which can be seen today as an inherent element of democratic order.
(In collaboration with the Economic Governance Unit)
If one considers the weaknesses of democracies as one of the biggest challenges for today’s democratic world, one of the key questions is whether and how competition law can help in safeguarding democratic legal order. In other words, the question is about pro-democratic role of competition law. This question is both about the substance of law and the institutional-procedural settings of its enforcement. Therefore, I argue in this paper, first, that the substantive and the procedural dimensions of competition law-democracy link can be distinguished and, second, that competition can play a pro-democratic role if rule of law is safeguarded. As far as the substantive dimension of competition law-democracy link is concerned, I will explain that it is related to the competition law’s role to provide a check on the use of market power by private firms on markets where economic and political power is intermingled. In addition, I will show that the substantive dimension is about competition law's role to safeguard that private firms, in particular digital platforms and media companies, give consumers an access to diverse sources of information. Finally, I will argue that the substantial dimension is about competition law’s role to promote socio-economic and environmental values which can be seen today as an inherent element of democratic order.