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When implementing through its case law the EU Treaty's objective of establishing a system of undistorted competition, the European Court of Justice has developed a concept of ”efficient” competition ( concurrence efficace). By this, the Court does not mean that it requires the existence or the establishment of “effective” competition. Rather, the Court means to imply by its terminology a particular version of efficient competition in the sense that market actors should always be exposed to a realistic degree of competitive pressure. This is a more modest approach than that proposed by those who favor a “constitutionalist” interpretation of the objective that competition may be not distorted within the European Internal Market. However, it is a legal concept, and it may be a demanding one. The paper explores ways in which it is actually put in practice by a competition policy that relies heavily on interaction but also negotiation between public authorities and market participants.