areas usually use national borders to define the areas. The fear of the Community is that market integration will be impeded by such private arrangements and individual national markets will again be strengthened. Thus the basic idea of the economic community will be undermined by private business interests, even though the common market is intended to benefit both consumers and business. Consequently, market integration is understood by the Commission and the Court of Justice to be an overriding concern in the interpretation of competition law.
The main provisions of competition law are found in Articles 85 through 94 of the Treaty of Rome. These Articles deal with unfair trade practices (including agreements restricting competition), monopolies, State aid to businesses, and the enforcement of these provisions. Prior to 1990, EC law concerning mergers was derived by courts from the provisions of Article 85, which deals with agreements to restrict competition, and Article 86, which deals with abuse o
...