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The European Union (EU) leniency programme is a key weapon in the Commission’s fight against hard-core cartels. Much of the success of EU cartel enforcement depends on the continued effectiveness of the leniency policy and is especially critical in response to the growth of private enforcement. This book offers a comprehensive description of the development of the policy, along with a normative framework that promises to ensure the full legitimacy of the leniency programme: the Commission’s policy should pursue not only effectiveness but also fairness. It is the first work to extensively analyse the effectiveness and fairness in the EU leniency policy. Proceeding systematically from clarifying the concepts of ‘effectiveness’ and ‘fairness’ to addressing the tension between leniency and private actions for damages, the author discusses the nature of, and interrelations among, such aspects as the following: – the theoretical model of the EU fining policy; – the compatibility of the EU enforcement system with fundamental rights protection; – the gathering and evaluation of evidence at the preliminary investigation stage; – the severity and foreseeability of the EU cartel fines; – judicial review by the EU Courts in competition matters; – to what extent the current policy is effective and fair; and – reforms brought about by the 2002 and 2006 Leniency Notices and the leniency-related amendments by the 2014 Antitrust Damages Directive. A key feature is the author’s presentation of a normative framework to test the effectiveness (deterrence) and substantive fairness (retribution) of the EU leniency policy. As a clear demonstration of how to forestall the danger of focusing on effectiveness of leniency at the expense of fairness, both in a substantive and in a procedural sense, this book is a major contribution to the literature of competition law. It will prove to be of great value to competition authorities, antitrust practitioners and interested academics not only in Europe but also throughout the world.
Leniency has emerged as one of the main enforcement instruments used by competition authorities to combat cartels. Offering immunity from punishment is believed to destabilise already existing cartels and deter undertakings from entering into such arrangements. This book offers the first in-depth analysis of the scope of leniency in European Union (EU) competition law, considering three crucial ramifications – ensuring a leniency applicant can self-report with confidence, retaining the right to compensation of those who have suffered losses due to the cartel and furthering the objective of undistorted competition within the internal market. With thorough insight into the interaction between the Commission’s Leniency Notice and public and private enforcement, the author fully explains such aspects of the subject as the following: who is eligible for leniency; liability of an immunity recipient; the EU fining system; disclosure of leniency evidence; scope of public authorities reaching out to cartel infringers; the immunity recipient and follow-on damages claimants; the immunity recipient and subsequent leniency applicants; effect of the Damages Directive; and the European Economic Area dimension. The author offers cogent suggestions about how the shortcomings of the Commission’s leniency offer can be ameliorated and which regulatory steps should be taken to give the policy greater leverage. The author calls for increased harmonisation at national level in the EU and compares leniency practice in US antitrust law. As a comprehensive analysis of the practical application of current policy and procedure in EU cartel enforcement, the book clearly shows the ways in which the scope of leniency is manifest in the interaction between public and private enforcement, evaluating which interaction is most effective. Its practical character will be recognised and welcomed by competition law practitioners and policymakers, who will strengthen their grasp of leniency procedure and clearly discern implications for competition infringement cases.
This book examines the legislative patchwork surrounding access to the European Commission's cartel case files. Recent legislative changes have increased the value of the files and have also highlighted the inherent tension between a number of competing interests affecting their accessibility. The Commission is undoubtedly caught between a rock and a hard place, charged with the task to ensure due process, transparency and effectiveness while at the same time promoting both public and private enforcement of the EU competition rules. The author considers how best to ensure a proper balance between the legitimate, but often diverging interests of parties, third parties and national competition authorities in these cases. The book provides a unique and comprehensive presentation of the EU legislation and case law surrounding access to the Commission's cartel case files. The author examines the question of accessibility from three different perspectives: that of the parties under investigation, cartel victims, and national competition authorities. The author also considers the EU leniency system and whether any legislative changes could make the attractiveness of the system less dependent on the possibilities of cartel victims to access the evidence contained in the Commission's case files.
Margin squeeze is a form of abuse of a dominant position in which a vertically integrated company reduces the margin between the price charged to competitors and the price charged to consumers, which can have the effect of excluding a competitor from the market. In the decade or so since the liberalisation of network industries, margin squeeze has become a major source of concern among competition authorities and courts, particularly pronounced in the electronic communications sector. Because some of the adopted decisions show significant inconsistencies in approach, and legal certainty remains elusive in this area, this book which provides an extremely thorough analysis is both timely and of great practical value. The author provides an in-depth examination of margin squeeze allegations in the electronic communications sector with a view to developing a more advanced and comprehensive analysis of principles which should guide ex post assessment of margin squeeze. Issues and topics covered include: – scope of intervention in margin squeeze cases both for national regulatory and national competition authorities; – conditions for sanctioning margin squeeze under Article 102; – methodological and practical difficulties in identifying a margin squeeze; – methodology employed in margin squeeze cases and its regulatory aspects; – assessment of the ability and incentives of regulated firms to engage in a margin squeeze; and – situations when competition law is used to address the deficits of regulation and regulatory failures. It also includes a critical comparison of the vertical foreclosure analysis undertaken in margin squeeze cases with the approach adopted in the EU Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines. Throughout the analysis, margin squeeze treatment in the European Union and its Member States is examined in light of the diverging approach adopted by the US Supreme Court. The increasing complexity of the electronic communications market can only further confound an already complex assessment of price squeezes, and one can expect that claims of anticompetitive margin squeeze in liberalised network industries will continue to be high on the enforcement agenda of competition authorities for years to come. In light of the need for a coherent, or at least predictable, sentencing policy to provide relative legal certainty, the research in this book proves invaluable. The analysis and conclusions discussed in this book will be welcomed by policymakers, regulators, and lawyers working in the areas of competition law and electronic communications law.
This new edition of an immensely useful book follows the same proven format as its predecessors, updates its analysis of case law with hundreds of new decisions by the courts of the European Union (EU), and thus remains the quickest source of reference for practitioners working with EU State aid matters. Following a highly organized sequence of subject headings, it presents extracts from all judgments and orders of both the Court of Justice and the General Court of the EU on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) rules on State aids. The book covers the relevant case law of both courts. There is additional material on many subjects, among which the concept of State aid, direct taxation and the State aid provisions, particularly on tax rulings, advantages for undertakings, selectivity, forms of State aid, procedures and unlawful aids. With this book, practitioners will quickly find relevant paragraphs and full citations regarding all issues raised by Articles 107–109 TFEU, including the following and much more: territorial scope of State aids; Article 107(1) European Commission and World Trade Organization Agreements; conditions for categorizing a national measure as State aid; free movement of goods; undertakings; private versus public investment; justification of selective measures; interstate trade and competition; tax measures; restructuring aids; procedural aspects; and locus standi of trade associations. In many areas, the extracts relate to points of the judgments which are not or only partially covered in official summaries. For accessibility of this case law, this updated edition of the preeminent analysis of EU State aid case law has no peers. Practitioners in this key area of EU competition law will find this book indispensable.
The first empirical analysis of leniency programmes implemented in Asian countries to enforce the anti-cartel provisions of their competition law.
For nearly twenty years, EU antitrust enforcement has been governed by Regulation 1/2003, which ushered in a sweeping reform of the procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. This systematic article-by-article expert commentary on the Regulation, with additional perspectives and critical views by particularly experienced and qualified authors, provides an in-depth examination of the Regulation’s legal achievements, implications, and promise for the future. Analysis of each of the Regulation’s articles covers such aspects as: legislative history; rationale and context; practice of the Commission and, where relevant, of the national competition authorities; case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union; international aspects; and outstanding and problematic issues. Along with many of the article commentaries, ‘boxes’ have been added on specific issues of particular salience. The critical reflections of the book’s second part include perspectives from members and staff of the Court of Justice of the European Union and of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition and Legal Service, heads of national competition authorities and of national courts, counsel, economists, consumer organisations, and academics. There are also comparisons with various aspects of antitrust enforcement in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. With this unparalleled book, practitioners and in-house counsel, as well as case-handlers and policymakers, will approach any competition case before the Commission with full awareness of the applicable procedural rules. They will gain a clear understanding of the enforcer’s powers and duties, as well as of the various options available to the undertakings involved in antitrust proceedings and their rights.
If an EU industrial policy can be said to exist, its contours may be found in the complex and evolving concept of State aid. Because approaching any State aid issue can be fraught with multiple and sometimes conflicting interpretations, an in-depth analysis of the rationales, initiatives, and regulations that constitute the State aid system is much needed. In response to this need, this book provides a fine-grained clarifying context through which recent reforms, policy shifts, and judicial decisions concerning State aid can be understood and applied to specific situations. Focusing on the impacts of landmark cases and policy developments leading up to a deeply informed critique of the current State Aid Modernisation Programme, the authors cover such issues and topics as the following: – linkages to other established and evolving EU common policies and common strategies; – effect of EU State aid rules in the expanding geopolitical regions of EU influence; – interaction with the WTO Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement; – the problem of a ‘subsidies culture’; – how the European Commission’s notion of ‘bad’ State aid has evolved; – effect of EU policy imperatives (e.g., environmental goals) which implicitly argue for increased subsidisation; – nexus with EU tax harmonisation; – competition among undertakings versus competition among Member State policies; and – nature of the quasi-devolution of regulatory responsibilities to EU Member States. This book is a crucially important source of both theoretical enlightenment and practical wisdom that will greatly enhance confident progress through any legal matter involving EU State aid rules. It will prove of immeasurable value to practitioners, in-house counsel, policymakers, and academics for many years to come.
International Competition Law Series#91 Enforcement of competition law often calls for a complex economic and legal assessment, and the review of those enforcement decisions usually falls to national courts. In this connection, however, European competition law and legal scholarship have offered scant guidance on how judicial review should and does function. This book, the first comprehensive, systematic, and comparative empirical study of judicial review of competition law public enforcement in the EU and the UK, provides a thorough understanding of the practical operation of the role of judicial review in competition enforcement. A country-by-country analysis, along with a detailed introduction and an incisive comparative summary, covers all publicly available judicial review judgments – 5,707 in all – of final public enforcement actions in relation to Articles 101 and 102 TFEU and relevant national provisions in the twenty-seven EU Member States and the UK rendered between 1 May 2004 and 30 April 2021. The data presented draws on a rich database built for the purpose of this study by twenty-eight national teams of competition law academics and practitioners. For each jurisdiction, the analysis focuses on such aspects as the following: structure of the national enforcement system; number of judgments rendered; success rate; types of appellants; competition rules subject to review; grounds of review; use of preliminary references; appeals involving leniency and/or settlements; and role of third parties. Numerous graphs, figures, and tables support the presentation. In the light it sheds on trends in judicial review of competition law enforcement on a comparative basis, and in its data-driven assessment of how the decentralised judicial review of EU competition law meets EU integration aims, this important study will be of inestimable value to competition lawyers, policymakers, and academics in developing a confident understanding of precisely how judicial review in this area operates in each of the EU Member States and the UK. In addition, the book provides a significant contribution not only with respect to EU and national competition laws but also, more broadly, to comparative administrative law scholarship in Europe.
Private Enforcement of European Competition and State Aid Law Current Challenges and the Way Forward Edited by: Ferdinand Wollenschläger, Wolfgang Wurmnest & Thomas M.J. Möllers The overlapping European Union (EU) regimes of competition law and State aid law both provide mechanisms allowing private plaintiffs to claim compensation for losses or damages. It is thus of significant practical value to provide, as this book does, analysis and guidance on achieving enforcement of such claims, written by renowned authorities in the two fields. The book examines the two areas of law both from an EU perspective and from the perspectives of private enforcement in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. In country reports for these major jurisdictions, as well as in more general and comparative chapters, the authors focus on such issues as the following: impediments to private enforcement; which entity is liable for damages; binding effect of decisions of competition authorities; limitation of actions; collective actions and pooling of claims; enforcement of the standstill obligation (Article 108(3) TFEU); remedies and information deficits; cooperation and coordination between national courts and the European Commission; transposition of the so-called Damages Directive (Directive 2014/104/EU) by the EU Member States; extent to which the strengthening of private enforcement of competition law has a spillover effect on State aid law; and prospects for harmonisation of State aid law. A concluding section identifies enforcement deficits and proposes ways to improve the existing legal framework. As an in-depth assessment of key obstacles and best practices in private enforcement actions, this highly informative and practical volume facilitates choice of the best forum for competition and State aid law cases. Academics and practitioners engaged with this important area of European law will appreciate the authors’ awareness of the economic need and legal particularities which could generate an effective European system of private enforcement of legitimate claims under EU competition and State aid law.