Abstract
The ongoing debate whether the consumer welfare becomes the paramount goal of antitrust policy and law leads to a logical questioning whether the protection of economic competition becomes part of a larger set of consumer law. The study therefore first discusses the theoretical issues of definitions of basic concepts and of systemic similarities and differences between the two sub-branches of law, and then examines in detail the extent to which the welfare and interests of consumers are specifically, or even exclusively, present in the basic legislative and soft-law documents of EU competition law, as well as in recent decisions of the European Commission and the European Court of Justice.
In conclusion it proves that the final consumer belongs to the range of beneficiaries of positive effects of competition protection, but his welfare cannot be considered as the sole or the main goal of EU competition policy and law in the sense of their focus and the criteria for their application. Protection of competition is therefore not becoming part of the EU consumer protection, at least if we get beyond the general assertion that both branches of law are beneficial to the consumer.