Competition Law and Public Service in the European Union and the United States

This is a review of lt;igt;The Limits of Competition Law: Markets and Public Serviceslt;/igt; (Oxford 2005), by Tony Prosser, a Professor of Public Law at the University of Bristol, England. When competition laws and other public service principles are in tension, can courts avoid a collision or will it be necessary to pick a winner? Prosser's analysis pays particular attention to public service obligations and their implications for the regulation of state monopoly in the European Union, drawing interesting and important connections between antitrust principles in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, specifically France and Italy. Although the notions of sovereignty that predominate in the EU differ fundamentally from those of federalism in the United States, Prosser's discussion parallels familiar American debates about the scope of defenses for regulated industries under antitrust laws. State-sponsored public service laws can serve important goals, as Prosser recognizes, but this review argues that an extension of his frame can also give courts grounds to recognize when state or industry claims of public service goals values are unjustified