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This dissertation was written as part of the Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Transnational and European Commercial Law, Mediation, Arbitration and Energy Law at the International Hellenic University. The ultimate purpose of this paper is to familiarize academics and professionals involved in the fields of law and economy , with the competition law issues, which may emerge from the creation of Joint Ventures in the common market. These alliances constitute successful business decisions, for they are an innovative and effective way to manage risk in uncertain markets, promote knowledge exchange and finally, share the possibly major cost of capital investments. However, it can be argued that, they involve a sacrifice of independence and flexibility, when compared to separate business ventures 1 and the competition issues that they raise can be of utmost importance. Although the European Commission (EC), as well as the national courts, have attempted to develop this policy area, there are still some aspects that raise multiple questions of application. This work aspires to provide an overview of the frame work for assessment of two distinctive types of JVs under EU Competition law, mostly at the stage of their formation. More specifically , this paper firstly defines the notion of Joint Ventures and presents their economic significance in the market. In addition, a distinction is made between cooperative and concentrative Joint Ventures, which are treated in a different way by the European Commission. Furthermore, we focus on concentrative JVs, which can have pivotal effects on competition . Finally, the way the European Union has reacted to these effects is carefully examined and the last chapter is devoted to “spillover effects”, for they are considered to have a great impact on competition and still constitute a major challenge for the European Commission .