Comma before "But"

[Allen165]

"The system was designed to ensure that the competition rules were applied uniformly throughout the Community but the Commission's heavy workload in considering agreements notified to it led to delays and consequent uncertainty for business." (Source: Elspeth Berry and Sylvia Hargreaves, European Union Law, 2nd ed., p. 273.)

Normally, one would put a comma after "Community" since the clause starting with "but" is an independent one. However, I come across sentences such as the one above from time to time, even in works written by reputable authors, so I'm wondering if omitting the comma is actually a mistake. I thought it was, but I'm not sure.

Thanks!

 

[5jj]

A comma after 'Community' would make life simpler for the reader. Unfortunately, many people are rather casual in their approach to commas.

 

[Rover_KE]

That's right, 5.

In such a long sentence, that's where you'd take a breath if you were reading it aloud.

Rover

 

[Tdol]

Punctuation is pretty anarchic, but a comma there would make this sentence a lot easier on the poor reader.