What happens when competition law meets the urgent demands of sustainability, defense readiness, and critical raw materials security?
Alexandra Mikroulea, Professor of Commercial and Competition Law at the University of Athens and Counsel at Koutalidis Law Firm, explored this crucial question at the NOMIKI BIBLIOTHIKI Antitrust Conference in Athens.
Her presentation, “Antitrust and areas where rules need to be bent,” addressed how EU competition law is evolving to balance traditional enforcement with strategic imperatives. Key insights included:
🔹 The emergence of regulatory sandboxes and informal guidance mechanisms across Europe, allowing companies to test sustainability collaborations without enforcement risk
🔹 Recent landmark cases—from port electrification agreements to automotive SEP licensing—showing how authorities are creating controlled spaces for necessary cooperation
🔹 The defense readiness dimension, where security of supply is becoming a legitimate efficiency metric in merger assessments
🔹 Critical raw materials security, with the EU shifting toward facilitating joint procurement and production initiatives
As Dr. Mikroulea emphasized through Teresa Ribera‘s words: “Competition policy is about preventing excessive power and is therefore critical to our democracy. There is no competitiveness in a race to the bottom.”
