This article addresses how the enforcement of competition law contributes to the realization of sustainable development and green growth. From the perspective of carbon neutrality, the green antitrust movement is emerging, which argues relaxation of the current competition policy. However, there are different facets in the relationship between the enforcement of competition law and green growth. For example, there may be cases where strict enforcement of competition law aligns with the traditional value of sustainability. On July 8, 2021, the European Commission fined German car manufacturers, because they colluded in technical development. In this case, competition law functioned like “a sword” to prevent undertakings from engaging in economic activities against sustainability. In other words, competition and environmental protection were compatible by prohibiting anticompetitive agreements which were related to environmental damages. On the contrary, in 2019, the Department of Justice in the United States began an antitrust inquiry against car manufacturers, and later in 2020, dropped the case. In this case, sustainability may have functioned like “a shield” against antitrust liability, if we consider the positive effects of environmental protection in the competition law assessment. In other words, competition and environmental protection might be in conflict, because the agreement could be anticompetitive, but beneficial to the environment.

一橋大学大学院法学研究科

2022-07

Japanese(jpn)

departmental bulletin paper

VoR

10.15057/74231

1347-0388

AA1161370X

一橋法学

21

2

81

105

21巻2号(2022.7)

https://hdl.handle.net/10086/74231