One of the key components of the modernization of competition rules has been a radical departure from the previous «form-based» enforcement to a so-called «effects-based» approach. Taking stock of ten years of experience under this new policy, the present book analyses the changes brought about, as well as the practical problems encountered in its day-to-day application, be it by competition law enforcers, judges or practitioners. This book compiles the reports prepared for the 2011 Annual Conference of the Global Competition Law Centre (“GCLC”). Each and every chapter of this volume formulates concrete proposals as to how the system can be clarified or even improved. The focus is not only on the enforcement of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, but also in the file of merger control. Attempts are made to define more precisely the boundaries between anticompetitive object and effect, and to develop adequate safe harbours and presumptions. This book also casts a closer look at the analytical framework, possible theories of harm, evidence and defences. Overall the objective is to reconcile as best as possible law and economics, and to see how the goal to achieve the “right decision” in terms of economic outcome can be combined with the legitimate need for legal certainty.

The legal foundations of Competition Law in the European Union are modest, with only nine articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union setting out the basis. Alongside this primary legislation, the detailed application of European Competition rules and regulations continues to be shaped by secondary legislation and extensive case law. European Competition Law: A Concise Guide in a nutshell identifies and analyses European jurisprudence and Commission policy, covering classic cases and established principles through to recent developments. The book addresses a full range of EU Competition Law topics (Cartels, Abuse of a Dominant Position, Merger Control, State Aid and Public Procurement) and includes chapters devoted to key legal terminology and the European Commission's competence. Each chapter focuses first on explaining the theoretical underpinnings and then on considering how the European Commission and European Courts have shaped and guided its practical application. With a clear structure and well-explained, numerous examples, this book will appeal to readers encountering European Competition Law for the first time as well as to experienced practitioners seeking guidance on a specific topic.

In the late 1990s, the European Commission embarked on a long process of introducing a 'more economic approach' to EU Antitrust law. One by one, it reviewed its approach to all three pillars of EU Antitrust Law, starting with Article 101 TFEU, moving on to EU merger control and concluding the process with Article 102 TFEU. Its aim was to make EU antitrust law more compatible with contemporary economic thinking. On the basis of an extensive empirical analysis of the Commission's main enforcement tools, this book establishes the changes that the more economic approach has made to the Commission's enforcement practice over the past fifteen years. It demonstrates that the more economic approach not only introduced modern economic assessment tools to the Commission's analyses, but fundamentally changed the Commission's interpretation of the law. Emulating one of the key credos of the US Antitrust Revolution thirty years earlier, the Commission reinterpreted the EU antitrust rules as aiming at the enhancement of economic consumer welfare only, and amended its understanding of key legal concepts accordingly. This book argues that the Commission's new understanding of the law has many benefits. Its key principles are logical, translate well into workable legal concepts and promise a great degree of accuracy. However, it also has a number of serious drawbacks as it stands. Most worryingly, its revised interpretation of the law is to large extents incompatible with the case law of the European Court of Justice, which has not been swayed by the exclusive consumer welfare aim. This situation is undesirable from the point of view of legal certainty and the rule of law.

A ground breaking study of how the interaction between the European Commission and the EU Courts has shaped EU competition law.

This book is the fourth edition of a highly practical guide to the leading cases in European Competition Law. It explores the application of Article 101 TFEU, Article 102 TFEU and the European Merger Regulation, as well as the public and private enforcement of Competition Law. In addition, it reviews the intersection between Competition Law and Intellectual Property Rights and the application of Competition Law to State action. Each chapter outlines the relevant laws, regulations and guidelines for each topic. Within this framework, cases are reviewed in summary form, accompanied by analysis and commentary. Endorsements: 'This book should be in the library of every competition law practitioner and academic. The summary of cases is first class. But what makes it really stand out is the quality of the commentary and the selection of the material which includes not only the most important European judgements and decisions but also some of the leading cases from the US and European Member States.'Ali Nikpay, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Former Senior Director, Office of Fair Trading 'The study of EU Competition law requires the analysis and understanding of a number of increasingly complex European Commission and European Court decisions. Through the provision of case summaries, excerpts from the important passages and concise commentary linking these decisions to other key case law and Commission documents, this unique and impressive book, now in its fourth edition, provides the student and practitioner of EU competition law with an extremely clear and useful introduction to these leading decisions' Dr Kathryn McMahon, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Warwick 'The Guide is an invaluable tool for both students and practitioners. It provides a compact overview on the fundamental cases and highlights the essential problems in a clear and sharp analysis.' Dr Christoph Voelk, Antitrust Practice Group, McDermott, Will & Emery LLP 'This book is especially valuable to competition law specialists in Europe and abroad who are interested in the jurisprudence and policy of the European Union and its member states. Familiarity with the European regime is essential for proficiency in competition law today, and this volume provides an excellent foundation.' William E Kovacic, Global Competition Professor of Law and Policy, George Washington University Law School, Former Chairman, US Federal Trade Commission

Article 102 TFEU prohibits the abuse of a dominant position as incompatible with the internal market. Its application in practice has been controversial with goals as diverse as the preservation of an undistorted competitive process, the protection of economic freedom, the maximisation of consumer welfare, social welfare, or economic efficiency all cited as possible or desirable objectives. These conflicting aims have raised complex questions as to how abuses can be assessed and how a dominant position should be defined. This book addresses the conceptual problems underlying the tests to be applied under Article 102 in light of the objectives of EU competition law. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the book covers all the main issues relating to Article 102, including its objectives, its relationship with other principles and provisions of EU law, the criteria for the assessment of individual abusive practices, and the definition of dominance. It provides an in-depth doctrinal and normative commentary of the case law with the aim of establishing an intellectually robust and practically workable analytical framework for abuse of dominance.