Restrictive Practices Policy

Cartels and other forms of restrictive practice have long represented a standard feature of business activity. Today all forms of such collusive and secret agreements to undermine the competitive process are generally condemned, but this has not always been the case. Any assessment of national cartel laws in Europe need to be placed within two distinct time frames. Prior to 1945 cartels and restrictive practices were tolerated across Europe and even encouraged in the German-speaking states. In the period after 1945, however, a new anti-cartel ethos took hold, with the active support of the US Administration and further encouraged in the cartel provisions of the ECSC.