Private Regulation and the Internal Market

How does EU internal market law, in particular the rules on free movement and competition, apply to private regulation? What issues arise if a bar association were to regulate advertising; when a voluntary product standard impedes trade; or when a sporting body restricts the cross-border transfer of a football player? Covering the EU's free movement and competition rules from a general and sector-specific angle, focusing specifically on the legal profession, standard-setting, and sports, this book is the first systematic study of EU economic law in areas where private regulation is both important and legally controversial. Mislav Mataija discusses how the interpretation of both free movement and competition rule adapts to the rise of private regulation, and examines the diminishing relevance of the public/private distinction. As private regulators take on increasingly important tasks, the legal scrutiny over their measures becomes broader and moves towards what Mataija describes as 'regulatory autonomy.' This approach broadly disciplines, but also recognizes the legitimacy of private regulators; granting them an explicit margin of discretion and focusing on governance and process considerations rather than on their impact on trade and competition. The book also demonstrates how the application of EU internal market law fits in the context of strategic attempts by the EU institutions to negotiate substantive reforms in areas where private regulation is pervasive. Surveying recent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the practice of the European Commission, Mataija demonstrates how EU internal market law is used as a control mechanism over private regulators.

Mislav Mataija is a Member of the Legal Service of the European Commission, where he mainly deals with WTO and trade policy issues. He holds degrees from the European University Institute (PhD in Law, 2013), Columbia Law School (LLM, 2009), and the University of Zagreb (LLB, 2007). During his PhD studies he has conducted research at the School of Law at King's College London. Previously, he worked as a lecturer at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Law, where he taught and researched broadly in EU law, including internal market law and competition law, as well as WTO law. He has also worked as a legal expert at the European University Institute's Centre for Judicial Cooperation, and at the Court of Justice of the European Union (stagiaire, chambers of Judge Ilesic). He has published broadly on EU constitutional, internal market, and competition law and has acted on three occasions as FIDE (International Federation for European Law) national rapporteur for various EU law topics.

- 1: Introduction
- 2: Free Movement and Private Regulation
- 3: Competition Law and Private Regulation
- 4: The Relationship of Free Movement and Competition Law
- 5: Conditional Autonomy: EU Internal Market Law and the Private Regulation of Sport
- 6: The Learned Art: Regulating the Legal Profession
- 7: Standard-setting, Competition, and Trade
- 8: Conclusion