Whos in Favour of Legal Uncertainty? A Legal-Empirical Analysis of Stakeholder Input on Legal (Un)certainty in EU Competition Law and Policy

This project investigates whether companies and other stakeholders strategically seek to increase legal uncertainty in EU competition law and policy. Legal uncertainty may be beneficial for firms if it increases the chance that legal violations will remain unpunished. This research quantitatively analyses circa 500 stakeholder responses to five public consultations by the European Commission on EU competition policy guidelines. Accordingly, the research tests if these responses aim to influence competition law and policy towards increased legal uncertainty. The findings provide new scientific insights into the policy preferences of competition law stakeholders, challenging conventional wisdom that businesses always prefer legal certainty.