Relying on EU Soft Law Before National Competition Authorities: Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst

Oana Stefan, Jul 15, 2013

Instruments deprived of legally binding force according to Article 288 TFEU—notices, guidelines, communications, etc.—have been issued in EU competition law since the 1960s. Bearing a vast variety of names and coming in different forms, all these instruments can be gathered under the umbrella notion of “soft law.” As experienced in international law contexts, the legal or practical effects that soft law can produce in the absence of legally binding force