The Role of the European Commission in the Framework of Ensuring Competition in the European Union

The article is devoted to the definition of the role of the European Commission in the framework of ensuring competition in the European Union. The provisions of normative acts and scientific works are analyzed. The issue of antitrust activities of the European Commission is analyzed by analyzing concrete examples of the implementation of its powers. The author points out that among the important functions of the European Commission it is necessary to highlight the provision of competition, that is, to prevent abuses of dominant positions on the market by large industrial companies and to prohibit agreements between the parties that lead to restrictions of competition, production or market opportunities. The policy itself is based on the principles of maximizing the scope of the market mechanism and reducing interference in the economy. The author draws attention to the fact that ensuring the principle of protecting competition in the global market can only be achieved by effectively combating anti-competitive practices such as anticompetitive concerted actions or, as they are called throughout the world, conspiracies or cartels. After analyzing these legal provisions, the author came to the conclusion that the European Commission's competition policy is based on five basic principles: prohibited concerted practices, agreements and mergers between companies that could negatively affect trade between member states, prevent competition within to restrict or distort the common market; It is prohibited to take advantage of a dominant position on the market when it may adversely affect trade between Member States; control of state aid in member countries in any form that threatens free competition because it benefits individual enterprises or the production of individual goods; European-wide merger plans are assessed from the point of view of potential consequences for competition and may become banned; the liberalization of some sectors, which to date dominated the monopoly of certain public or private enterprises. The author concludes that, in this way, the European Commission as the main supranational regulator of competition in the European Union, supports the proper functioning of the Union's internal market, provides for the movement of goods, persons, services and capital.