Written by Marcin Grajewski

The European Commission is pursuing a number of high-profile investigations in the competition area, highlighting the determination of the new team at the European Union’s executive to be a tough enforcer of antitrust laws.
Last month, the Commission sent a Statement of Objections to Google, alleging the company has abused its dominant position in the markets for general internet search services. In another Statement of Objections sent out in April, it alleges that some of Gazprom’s business practices in Central and Eastern European gas markets constitute an abuse of the Russian company’s dominant market position.
This note offers links to commentaries, studies and reports from major international think tanks on the Google and Gazprom cases, as well as on general challenges facing EU competition policies.
Commentaries
Markets move on as competition policy stands still
Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), 1 May 2015
Can the EU turn Gazprom into Google?
Brookings Institution, 23 April 2015
Competition policy in the digital economy
European Policy Information Center, 17 April 2015
The ‘Google Case’ and the promotion of Europe’s digital economy
European Centre for International Political Economy, April 2015
The slow erosion of Gazprom’s grip over Europe
Carnegie Europe, 23 March 2015
Breaking up Google is not the way for Europe to grow
Brookings Institution, 4 December 2014
Unbundling Google users from Europe
Bruegel, 27 November 2014
Analyses
Tax rulings and state aid: A treacherous mix
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), 30 April 2015
Gazprom’s evolving strategy in a new commercial and political context: how should the EU react?
European Policy Centre (EPC), 27 April 2015
Antitrust, regulation and the neutrality trap
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), 17 April 2015
Russia shows continuing ambitions in CEE with pipeline
Centre for European Reform (CER), 1 March 2015
The Gazprom case: good timing or bad timing?
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), 15 March 2015
State aid for energy: climate action is more important than the single market
Centre for European Reform (CER), 23 February 2015
Foreign takeovers need clarity from Europe
Bruegel, 9 December 2014
Towards a new industrial policy for Europe
European Policy Centre (EPC), 17 November 2014
Private Enforcement of European Union Competition Law
Istituto Affari Internazionali, 10 September 2014
Industrial Policy in the EU: A Guide to an Elusive Concept
Egmont, September, 2014
Antitrust risk in EU manufacturing: A sector-level ranking
Bruegel, July 8, 2014
Bail-in provisions in state aid and resolution procedures: Are they consistent with systemic stability?
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), 21 May 2014
Why competition policy matters for growth?
Bruegel, 18 February 2014
Commitments or prohibition? The EU antitrust dilemma
Bruegel, 31 January 2014
[…] ‘What think tanks are thinking’ thus offers links to blogs, commentaries, reports, studies and analyses published by major international, or national, think tanks, writing on European or global issues during the past year on a particular topic. As an example, our first issue featured the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing programme, and was published on 22 January 2015, the day the ECB announced its plans for unconventional monetary policy measures. Other topics have included: EU-Russia relations, migration, anti-terrorist policies, and major EU anti-trust cases. […]