Competition Policy and SMEs: The Case of Denmark Within the European Union

The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the ways in which EU competition policy and specifically Danish competition policy1, aim to protect the interests of not only private consumers, but also small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As a point of departure it is useful to mention that the individual competition policy legislations of the member states of the EU now, after a period of adaptation stretching over many years, as an example of what might be termed voluntary harmonisation of policies, for all practical purposes although with certain noteworthy additions, consists of copies of the central competition rules of the EU. The provisions, that pertain to SMEs first and foremost, consist of articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty on the European Community (Treaty of Rome as amended by subsequent treaties, henceforth: the EC treaty).