소비자주권의 실현을 위한 경쟁법·정책의 역할

Recently, legislations and legal environments surrounding consumer protection policy have faced fundamental transitions. Among them, the fact that the Korea Consumer Agency came to belong to the Korea Fair Trade Commission(hereinafter, KFTC) may be one of the biggest changes. In this transitory era, the concern on the new tasks which the KFTC shall undertake is getting larger. It has been traditionally said that competition law and policy pursue the same goal as the consumer law and policy do. Simultaneously, however, there are some tensions and conflicts between two policies. In this context, how to coordinate the role of the KFTC as a competition authority with that of the consumer protection is an important issue. This paper intended to suggest a resonable role and function of the KFTC for consumer protection in this new legal circumstances. For this purpose, it reviewed the relationships between competition law and consumer law, especially with the consumer welfare perspective. And it analyzed some systemic models of several countries to protect consumer. Under the basis, it advised the directions the KFTC should take or alter for successful implementation of both policies.