US and EU competition policy on abuse of dominance in high tech industries

Abuse of dominance is one of the three pillars of competition policy in both the EU and the US. Competition laws are similar, but enforcement differs greatly between the EU and the US. The EU administrative approach is less punitive than the US court based system. The use of fines by the EU in antitrust cases, however, borders on criminal charges. EU enforcement is less transparent and open for review than its US counterpart. Abuse of dominance in high tech industries poses specific problems due to the emergence of single standards in operating systems and chip design. The Microsoft and Intel cases illustrate this point. Harmonization of US and EU competition policy through judicial review might give the competition authority that files first decision power, if its decisions are not revoked on appeal.