Future-proofing plural antitrust enforcement models: Lessons from the United States and the European Union

The paper illustrates how the EU and U.S. antitrust systems are coming closer to each other in their extent of federalism or decentralization. It explores how plural antitrust enforcement models can be made future-proof, also considering the involvement of courts and legislators as evaluators in antitrust matters. The paper’s insights focus on considerations that are relevant in balancing experimentation and consistency. The starting point is that some extent of federalism or decentralization is welcome to allow for learning by doing when antitrust authorities reach different outcomes. The paper argues that stronger coordination among the different actors in the EU and U.S. antitrust systems is needed to make the learning more structural and to ensure effective enforcement. Insights from experimentalist governance are used to propose ex ante and ex post coordination mechanisms to achieve this.