A speech last week from the man who will soon be second only to European Union competition commissioner Mario Monti kindled an uncommonly warm response from business lobbyists and EU lawyers.

Philip Lowe, who will be director-general for competition from September, said in unusually forthright terms that improving accountability and redress in the case of controversial competition decisions would be among his top priorities. Both issues have long been cause for concern in the business community. In the speech to the American Antitrust Institute in Washington, Lowe said: "The time was certainly right for a more fundamental look at the internal operation of the department in order to reinforce internal checks and balances. Under the authority of competition commissioner Mario Monti, that will be one of my priorities in my new role." Lowe also believed the judicial review process for companies unhappy about a commission decision must be speeded up. He said: "If it is to have any relevance to an agreement which is still commercially viable, the judgment must be taken in weeks and months, and not months and years. I feel strongly that this is one of the essential issues that must be addressed." Vincent Brophy, an EU lawyer with Brussels law firm Linklaters, said: "This is music to the ear. These areas really need seeing to, and it shows he is picking up on the criticism here and on the other side of the Atlantic and intends to do something about it." Erik Berggren, competition specialist at European employers' confederation Unice, said the reference to checks and balances was "timely and acknowledged the need for improvement". It was, he said, a big step forward from the commission's position until now which was that checks and balances were adequate. Lowe said the European Court of First Instance's recent adoption of new "fast track" rules was still insufficient. He said it was "a first step. What we really need is a genuine fast track, and much faster than the present accelerated procedure." He also raised the possibility of giving parties to a merger the right of rapid redress. "I for one would not rule out giving the notifying parties to a merger formal rights to expedited appeal on prohibitions and remedies before the Community courts." Brophy said: "He is hitting all the right notes. If you look at the Airtours case, it took three years to get a decision. Tetra Laval has just come to the court after eight months under the new, faster procedures, but that is still far too long." The speech also sought to address criticisms that EU competition policy often appeared more favourable to competitors than consumers. Critics have pointed out that most competition cases were based on competitors' complaints, with their own self interest at heart, while consumers rarely complained. Lowe admitted that the economic and market analysis underlying commission decisions were inadequate on occasion. Efforts to strengthen the economic expertise of staff in the competition department were ongoing and the recruitment of suitably qualified economists was a priority, he said.