Since the failure of the Havana Charter in 1947 till the success of the combined efforts of
leading antitrust authorities against mighty Microsoft the antitrust regime has witnessed
several ups and downs. Auf jeden Fall the journey was not an easy one. Moreover now antitrust
regime is standing at international crossroads and is wondering about its future direction.
Today at this crucial juncture the antitrust world is confronted with several dilemmas
simultaneously. Choices are to be made between national welfare or global welfare national
autonomy or global regulations the efficiency factor or the fairness view national champions
or global champions collective efficiency or collective inefficiency WTO or ICN the US model
or the EU model and so on. It is widely believed among experts that to overcome these dilemmas
the world needs some truly unified international antitrust framework which would enable the
international community to achieve optimal product mix incorporating the best from all options
and through such optimal product mix the global community can enjoy to a large extent
advantages that competition policy has to offer. In this direction I have examined the
feasibility and viability of unifying international competition policy in this work.
Additionally as the title suggests I have listed out advantages and disadvantages of such
moves. Efforts for harmonization of competition laws began as early as in 1948. Till date there
are several binding and non-binding arrangements made in the direction of harmonization. The
WTO and the EU for effective coordination in antitrust area have launched recently new
initiatives. International Competition Network a forum for active interaction among antitrust
officials even though non-binding in nature is doing considerably good work. I believe such
confidence building initiatives among nations would help in arriving at some amicable solutions
agreeable to all nations. Chapter 8 focuses on various such initiatives taken in the direction
of harmonization. In the concluding chapter I elaborate further on need of having a unified
antitrust regime under a contemporary scenario. Recommendations and views of experts are also
presented. At the end I discuss my views about feasibility of having a truly unified antitrust
regime in foreseeable future and other possible alternative measures that might help in
achieving harmonization in future.
