The European Union has provisionally agreed to give member states greater enforcement powers to clamp down on anti-competitive practices.

The move is meant to ensure that EU competition policy is enforced evenly across the 28-nation bloc and that national competition authorities have the same “appropriate” powers at hand to stamp out cartel behaviour, abuse of dominant position, and other corporate practices that prevent a fair market from operating.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...