'Economics, as called by the great British economist Alfred Marshall, is the study of "the ordinary business life". During the past three centuries, three economists stood out as archetypes, symbols of three distinct approaches to economic philosophy: Adam Smith, father of modern economics who advocated the notion of free market/trade and the "invisible hand guiding the individual"; Karl Marx, who opposed Smith and the capitalist system and believed that the pursuit of self- interest would lead to anarchy; and John Maynard Keynes, who advocated a mixed economy approach, which is predominantly private sector, but with a role of the government intervention during recessions.'1.
Traditional economic theory indicates that goods and services will be produced most efficiently where there is perfect competition or, more realistically workable competition.2.
In general, the task of EU law is 'the promotion of harmonious development of economic activities by the creation of a single common market and the progressive approximation of the economic policies of the Member States'3 and it is bound to ensure that 'competition in the internal market is not distorted'4 'Competition law has always played an important part in EU law and the use of economic terms, such as monopoly, perfect competition and market shares has proven its close connection with economics. Competition law primary objective is to enhance efficiency, in the sense of maximizing consumer welfare and achieving the optimal allocation of resources.'5 'The framers of the original Treaty concerning Competition policy recognised that unfettered market forces can lead directly to anti-competitive practises that might have deleterious impact on market efficiency and to deal with this they inserted some rules based on the Sherman Act model. These rules had three principal objectives: to avoid restrictive practices and agreements;6 to prevent large businesses from abusing their market dominance;7 and to apply similar rules to the public sector.
