How Come the European Commission is Always Involved in All Antitrust Lawsuits (and Not US FTC)?

Following the news about antitrust lawsuits or investigations for the last 3-4 years, I have noticed that the European Commission has been much more active than the Federal Trade Commission. Whether it’s about Microsoft being forced to remove bundled software or investigating Oracle’s takeover of Sun Microsystems, the EC seems to be more attentive to the correct implementation of free market rules.

History shows that the US was involved in many antitrust actions (think of AT&T). How come it is slowing down now? Simple answer: globalization. Competition going global, the American government does not oversee market at national level anymore. Today, American companies must compete on a global scale, against emerging countries that have a very centralized view of the economy (ex: China). In other words, American companies might end up against players that own near 100% of their local market.

Having to face this situation, American policy makers have decided to adopt a laissez-faire strategy that will lead to more merges and serious restructuring of some industries. The idea is to have a couple of big players with unmatchable potential for economies of scales.These players will be the undisputed market leaders in their sector.

While this is good news for American companies, it is quite different for the Europeans. If American companies get bigger and more competitive, then European companies might start having problems in their own markets. This is precisely why European policy makers are pushing for antitrust legislation to be exercised upon major American antitrust activities.