Striking a better tone for a long-running debate

One point is that weakening EU competition policy to support national champions is a non-starter given that the US, Japan and, increasingly, China itself are taking a cross-border view of antitrust enforcement. Then there is the economic downside. "Diluting either anti-trust policy or relaxing state-aid rules would undermine Europe's long-term economic prospects, not bolster them," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank.