Setting Priorities for a Small Country's Competition Authority

What should the priorities of a small country's competition authority be? In search for an answer, the book presents an in-depth analysis of two decades of competition law enforcement in one of such small countries, and the current EU member, Lithuania. The author takes commonly identified challenges that competition authorities are expected to face and, drawing on the extensive review of the case-law, demonstrates how these challenges have been met in reality. The book considers that far from being transitory most of the size-related difficulties – such as political interference with the operations of the competition agency or the latter's lack of sufficient financing and qualified personnel – could be of a more permanent nature, and therefore the priorities of a small country's competition authority should be correspondingly adjusted. It is argued that, under these circumstances, pursuing a more economic approach would be overly ambitious and, if implemented badly, might even bring undesirable effects. Instead, a competition authority would do well by focusing its efforts on competition advocacy and the enforcement of bright-line rules against cartels.