Why should National Competition Authorities be Independent and how should they be Accountable?

"Should regulatory agencies be independent from the government? Or should they be a department of a given sector ministry? More broadly, should they be independent from the executive, legislative and judicial branches, or be part of one of these branches? These are important questions that come up not only when new Member States join the European Union, but also when major reforms are contemplated. We will state the reasons why national competition agencies (NCAs), the institutions in charge of enforcing competition rules in a given country, should have a substantial degree of independence. They should be entrusted with a clear mandate and their decisions should be guided solely by technical criteria expressed in their charter, free from political or interest group pressures."