Competition and regulation in Europe's network industries from theoretical approach to sectorial application

Abstract The European debate on the role that competition should play in network industries has aroused three interlinked concerns. The first is with the design of a new industrial organization: under what forms can competition through network opening actually enhance efficiency in the sectors involved? The second is with sector mission and mandate other than efficiency: what values might public authorities wish to instil in sector enterprises, and what are their chances of doing so given different industrial designs and the nature of European Union institutions? The third is with the mode of regulation: how should regulatory authorities intervene in the sectors, and how effective can their action be under the different organizational schemes envisioned? The paper proposes an analytic framework to deal with those issues simultaneously. It tries to show the value of conducting precise sectoral analyses when competition is to be defined in concrete terms and fully applies this principle to the electricity sector.