Climate Change and Competition: How Can European Competition Law Promote Sustainability?

Free competition generally promotes public welfare. The relationship between competition and environmental protection, however, contains conflicts. The combat against clime change has led to undertakings pursuing environmental goals by entering into anti-competitive agreements. Since competition authorities have repeatedly imposed fines on such sustainability initiatives, competition law has been accused of impeding the goal of sustainability. This creates the need to further investigate the intersection of sustainability and competition. This paper shows that current European competition law provides possibilities for a greater consideration of sustainability concerns. Focusing on the ban on cartels, cf. Article 101 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), it presents different approaches for the integration of environmental considerations in antitrust analysis. This paper also aims to flesh out limits in this regard. Importantly, the goals of competition law, which are aimed at enhancing consumer welfare and providing free competition, must not be circumvented.