ENTERPRISES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION-MONOPOLIES-CARTELS-STATE AID-COMPETITION RULES

Since its establishment, the European Union has been engaged in a continuous and consistent struggle towards the development and implementation of rational competition rules for enterprises. The necessity for an unconditional compliance with such rules has been indeed boosted since the beginning of the global economic and financial crisis. The Union has been incessantly conducting intensified efforts not only to effectively protect small enterprises, but also to avoid supporting all kinds of troubled ones. Its primary aims are the promotion of the liberalization of the markets, the "battle" against monopolies and the detailed scrutiny of both state aid and mergers. It is unambiguous that a healthy and "constructive" competition within the Union provides European businesses with priceless assistance in order for the latter to become much stronger and capable of surviving in the even more difficult conditions in terms of global competition. The author's principal objective is to critically examine the overall Union activities on these burning issues and to draw conclusions regarding whether and under which conditions economic recovery can actually become a reality. This book was publihed in Greek by Historical Quest in 2018. It was translated into English by the author himself in 2019.