This article analyzes the prerequisites for the development of legal instruments regulating competition in the EU. It was suggested to identify the three main phases of the evolution, which served as the basis for the adoption of new regulations and changes in their practical application. The basic prerequisites for a change of authority of supranational institutions of the European Union in the field of regulation of competition were distinguished. It was determined that the stability and permanence of the rules of the Treaties do not affect the process of reforming their enforcement by supranational and national bodies.