Institutional design usually allots competition policy at  the central level: the State or  the supra-national organizations are responsible for well-functioning markets, reform of traditionally monopoly-based sectors, prevention of abuses of dominant positions, control of mergers and undue economic aids that may distort competition. Yet the competition central policy very often boils down at much lower levels, due to the typical political and regulatory twists existing among local institutions  (e.g. Municipalities, Counties, Regions, federal States), in particular as far as it clashes/meets with administrative jurisdictions and local authorities in the enforcement phase.The course intends to outline the framework of problems relating to competition policy and local regulation, setting the right stage to cope with the peculiar challenges of this sometimes troubled  relation, in a context of fruitful osmosis between different cultural contributions and case studies.