EU Competition Law: General Principles (EU Competition Law Library) provides an authoritative overview of competition law in the European Union. It includes up to date and detailed analysis of core Treaty articles and case law on the fundamental principles affecting commercial agreements, abuse of dominant position and state involvement and its effect under competition law. It derives from a section in the looseleaf Law of the EU (Vaughan & Robertson, eds), and is made available here for the benefit of those who don't subscribe to the looseleaf. The authors are leading practitioners in the field of UK and EU competition law.

This second edition of Merger Control in the EU provides the reader with an exhaustive analysis of the European Community rules relating to merger control, including the new EC Merger Regulation 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 which entered into force on 1 May 2004 and the latest interpretive notices adopted by the European Commission. A brand new addition to the book is the companion website which will maintain the currency of the main work after publication; a service that is free of charge to all who own a copy of the book. The European Commission has exclusive competence to authorise or prohibit concentrations which have a Community dimension. Bearing in mind the economic relevance of these operations, decisions made by the Commission have an extraordinary market impact. This work is an invaluable and precise instrument for legal practitioners and economists, as well as for those undertakings involved in merger operations or acquisitions. It will enable them to become acquainted with the Commission's policy in this field and to guide themselves through the complex procedure of notification in Brussels. It will also be useful for those merger operations which are required to follow the procedure of notification to the national competition authorities in EU Member States, since the Commission's guidelines inspire, to a large extent, the acts and decisions of the national authorities in this field. This book analyses the issues related to merger control not only from a legal standpoint, but also from an economic one. It is a product of the authors' knowledge and experience in Brussels as officials of DG Competition in the Commission, and as lawyers defending the interests of undertakings involved in the notification procedure.

This volume provides an in-depth analysis of the relationship between intellectual property rights (including patents, trade marks, copyright, and designs) and the law of the European Union. It examines the conflict between intellectual property rights (exclusive rights limited normally to the territory of a single Member State) and the principle of free movement of goods and services in the internal market. The various tests and theories propounded by the European Court of Justice in attempting to resolve that conflict are explained from a critical standpoint. The ramifications of the exhaustion-of-rights principle are explored and chapters of this volume are devoted to trade marks, patents, and copyright. Finally, the volume examines the limitations on the exercise of intellectual property rights as a result of EC competition law.
Volume 2 will cover EU legislation which has harmonized intellectual property law and created unitary intellectual property rights such a the Community trade mark.

This book is the first detailed treatment of the approaches taken to enforce competition laws against cross-border cartels (CBCs) from the perspective of young and small competition authorities (more than 70% of the total number of authorities worldwide). No other legal or inter-disciplinary scholarship exists in the market that deals with the issue of a taxonomy of CBCs combined with young/small competition authorities' problems. The book looks at the extent of the harms caused by CBCs and issues associated with tackling them at a transnational level. It explains why past solutions to problems with cooperation have failed and proposes novel ideas on how to improve cooperation and coordination in certain types of CBC investigations (transnational and regional CBCs). The proposals are based on primary-source information and observations made by the author as part of his work in the UN, and interviews with leading enforcers from young, small, old and large jurisdictions. Young/small competition authorities, competition lawyers and economists, scholars and students within the fields of competition law and international law, and those interested in international cooperation and coordination in the area of cartel enforcement in emerging markets will greatly benefit from this book. It is clearly structured and extensively referenced, providing a valuable guide to the topic.

The EU antitrust enforcement system for several decades has been one of the most mature antitrust enforcement systems in the world. The European Commission has been recognised as a leading antitrust agency internationally, and a role model for enforcers. This would not have been possible without effective procedural rules. This volume provides a comprehensive and practically-oriented account of EU antirust procure. After setting out the institutional design and legal framework of the EU antitrust enforcement system, it explores the EU Commission's investigative powers, the possible outcomes of its investigations, the types of decisions it adopts and the remedies and fines it imposes. This volume looks closely at the rights of defences enjoyed by the investigated parties, and how the EU Commission strike a balance between their full observance on the one hand and the effectiveness of its enforcement on the other. Particular attention is given to the judicial review of the EU Commission's acts and the role of the EU Courts in providing judicial protection and ensuring compliance with fundamental rights and principles. Recognising cooperation as a key feature of the EU antitrust enforcement system, the volume explores the mechanisms for cooperation between national antitrust enforcers and the EU Commission, between national courts and the EU Court of Justice as well as the mechanisms for international cooperation. It also provides an in-depth review of the ECN+ Directive and explains how it contributes to making national competition authorities more effective enforcers. Written primarily with enforcers and practitioners in mind, it is essential reading for anyone with an interest in EU antitrust procedure.

Data collected and distributed on the internet is generally free, non-exclusive, and non-rivalrous. Yet online data is often difficult to access. This book examines the infrastructure for collecting, storing, and distributing data to show how it is embedded behind intellectual property and technological barriers. It proposes that the EU introduce an access and transfer governance right to data that can work in tandem with data protection rules. Chapters explore the subject matter of this protection, potential rights holders and the scope of the protection, and exceptions and limitations under intellectual property law and competition law. Comprehensive and timely, Regulating Access and Transfer of Data, sets the foundations for a new legal system for our data-driven generation.

Competition law is a significant legal transplant in East Asia, where it has come into contact with deeply rooted variants of Confucian culture. This timely volume analyses cultural factors in mainland China, Japan and Korea, focusing on their shared but diversely evolved Confucian heritage. These factors distinguish the competition law systems of these countries from those of major western jurisdictions, in terms of the goals served by the law, the way enforcement is structured, and the way subjects of the law respond to it. Concepts from cultural studies inform a new and eclectic perspective on these dynamics, with the authors also drawing on ideas from law and economics, comparative law, East Asian studies, political science, business management and ethics, and institutional economics. The volume presents a model for cultural analysis of comparative legal topics and contributes to a greater understanding of the challenges to deeper convergence of competition laws between East and West.

Algorithms are ubiquitous in our daily lives. They affect the way we shop, interact, and make exchanges on the marketplace. In this regard, algorithms can also shape competition on the marketplace. Companies employ algorithms as technologically innovative tools in an effort to edge out competitors. Antitrust agencies have increasingly recognized the competitive benefits, but also competitive risks that algorithms entail. Over the last few years, many algorithm-driven companies in the digital economy have been investigated, prosecuted and fined, mostly for allegedly unfair algorithm design. Legislative proposals aim at regulating the way algorithms shape competition. Consequently, a so-called "algorithmic antitrust" theory and practice have also emerged. This book provides a more innovation-driven perspective on the way antitrust agencies should approach algorithmic antitrust. To date, the analysis of algorithmic antitrust has predominantly been shaped by pessimistic approaches to the risks of algorithms on the competitive environment. With the benefit of the lessons learned over the last few years, this book assesses whether these risks have actually materialized and whether antitrust laws need to be adapted accordingly. Effective algorithmic antitrust requires to adequately assess the pro- and anti-competitive effects of algorithms on the basis of concrete evidence and innovation-related concerns. With a particular emphasis on the European perspective, this book brings together experts and scrutinizes on the implications of algorithmic antitrust for regulation and innovation.

In the last twenty years, South Asian countries have increasingly engaged with modern competition legislation. Yet, apart from India and Pakistan, the countries in this region have had little success enforcing these laws. Competition Law in South Asia analyses the mechanisms and institutions through which Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Maldives Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan have engaged with modern competition legislation. The book argues that the success (or failure) of competition reform in these countries is inextricably linked to the unique interplay of mechanisms and legal and political institutions through which these countries have engaged with competition legislation. The book provides an in-depth comparative analysis of the adoption and implementation continuum in India and Pakistan, the compatibility and legitimacy generated by the adoption process, and its impact on implementation. Taking a far-reaching, comparative approach, the book draws lessons not only for countries in South Asia but also for emerging economies across the globe.

A common criticism of the competition rules posed by EU authorities is that they are too inflexible, thereby prohibiting adequate responses to economic and industrial shocks. Competition Law in Crisis challenges this suggestion through an examination of competition responses to crises past and present. With an analysis spanning the response of UK and EU competition authorities to the economic and commercial outfall of the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and potential responses to the climate crisis in the context of post-Brexit British industrial policy, the book argues that relaxing the competition regime is precisely the wrong response. The rigidity of competition rules in the UK and EU has both normative and positive implications for not just the methodology used in competition analysis, but also the role of competition law within the legal order of both jurisdictions. The book concludes with a discussion of the place of the competition in the UK's and EU's legal order.

The understanding of Article 86 (formerly Article 90) of the EC Treaty is vital to any competition lawyer working in Europe. Writing with first-hand experience of dealing with Article 86 cases at DG IV, the author provides detailed examination of this Article and the law concerning exclusive rights and State monopolies.;With analysis of the relevant case-law, attention is paid to all the key areas including: the definition of "exclusive rights" and "economic activities" the remedial possibilities offered by the often neglected Article 31(formerly Article 37), the application of Article 86(1) in conjunction with the competition rules (Article 82 (formerly Article 86)), proportionality in the context of Article 86(2) and decisions and directives under Article 86(3) and their relationship with harmonization directives.;The text offers practical insights and intelligent solutions to many of the problems posed by the applications of these rules.

In the global infectious-disease research community, there has long been uncertainty about the conditions under which biological resources may be studied or transferred out of countries. This work examines the reasons for that uncertainty and shows how global biomedical research has been shaped by international disputes over access to biological resources. Bringing together government leaders, World Health Organization officials, and experts in virology, wildlife biology, clinical ethics, technology transfer, and international law, the book identifies the critical problems - and implications of these problems - posed by negotiating for access and sharing benefits, and proposes solutions to ensure that biomedical advances are not threatened by global politics. Written in accessible, non-technical language, this work should be read by anyone who sees global health and biomedical research as a priority for international lawmakers.

During the past century, intellectual property (IP) law has expanded within and beyond national borders. The field of IP law was once a niche area concerning authors, inventors, and trademark owners. Today, IP law acts as a complex regime of instruments, institutions, and actors that negotiate overlapping, diverging, and occasionally competing public policies on a global scale. As IP continues to expand beyond borders, the instruments and tools utilised for its global protection rely on public international law as the common denominator and unifying frame. Intellectual Property Ordering Beyond Borders provides an evaluation of the most pertinent public international law questions raised by this multidimensional expansion. This comprehensive and far-reaching volume tackles problems such as generalist approaches under the law of treaties; custom and general principles; interfaces between IP and other normative orders, such as trade and investment; and interdisciplinary accounts from the economic, political, and social science perspectives. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

William Letwin's thorough, carefully argued, and elegantly written work is the only book length study of the Sherman Antitrust Act, a law designed to shape the economic life of a large complex society through maintaining the correct level of competition in the economy. This is a superb history and complete analysis of the Act, from its English and American common law antecedents to the events that led to the first revisions of the Act in the form of the Clayton Antitrust and Federal Trade Commission Acts.

Competition law damages actions are often characterized by the uncertainty of the causal connection between the infringement and the harm. The damage consists in a pure economic loss flowing from an anticompetitive conduct. In such cases, the complexity of the markets structures, combined with the interdependence of individuals' assets, fuel this causal uncertainty. In this work, Claudio Lombardi elucidates the concept of causation in competition law damages actions and outlines its practical implications in competition litigation through the comparative analysis of the relevant statutory and case law, primarily in the European Union. This book should be read by practitioners, scholars, and graduate students with experience in competition law, as well as those interested in analyzing economic torts and causation in general.

Contribution claims in antitrust are controversial and under-researched in the legal literature. This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of contribution claims in EU competition law. By drawing on the historical and current practice of EU and national courts, as well as national laws of major EU jurisdictions, it explains contribution claims in antitrust law in concrete and practical terms. It also provides much needed clarity on the relationship between competition law and joint and several liability, as well as guiding those concerned by contribution claims through the issues that are likely to arise. Topics examined include the requirements competition law sets for contribution claims; the criteria for dividing antitrust liability between individual co-infringers; the impact of EU Directive 2014/10; and whether liability sharing agreements can resolve the problems joint and several liability brings to EU competition law.

In response to cartel formation, competition lawyers and policymakers in nine Asian jurisdictions have experimented with leniency programmes. This mechanism allows firms to come forward with information in relation to their illegal cartel participation in return for a reduction of or immunity from a sanction. The experimentation plays out across three different dimensions: the revision of early adopted leniency programmes, the introduction of newly written leniency programmes, and the decision - deliberate or otherwise - not to create a leniency programme. This volume is the first to analyse the empirical evidence across a number of countries to determine how effective these measures have been, and how they have been amended in response to problems encountered. In this volume, local experts from key Asian jurisdictions, together with international experts, offer an introduction to this fast-developing field, and explore the theoretical, international and regulatory contexts of leniency programmes.

Florence Thepot provides the first systematic account of the interaction between competition law and corporate governance. She challenges the 'black box' conception of the firm- or 'undertaking' - in competition law, as applied to increasingly complex corporate relations. The book opens the 'black box' of the firm to understand the internal drivers of collusive behaviour, and proposes a unified approach to cartel enforcement, based on the agency theory. It explores key issues including corporate compliance programmes, the attribution of liability in corporate groups, and structural links between competitors, and should be read by anyone interested in how the evolution of the corporate landscape impacts competition law.

Through a collaboration among twenty legal scholars from eleven countries in North America, Europe and Asia, Patent Remedies and Complex Products presents an international consensus on the use of patent remedies for complex products such as smartphones, computer networks and the Internet of Things. It covers the application of both monetary remedies like reasonable royalties, lost profits, and enhanced damages, as well as injunctive relief. Readers will also learn about the effect of competition laws and agreements to license standards-essential patents on terms that are 'fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory' (FRAND) on patent remedies. Where national values and policy make consensus difficult, contributors discuss the nature and direction of further research required to resolve disagreements. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This book is Volume I of a two-volume set on antitrust policy, analyzing the economic efficiency and moral desirability of various tests for antitrust legality, including those promulgated by US and EU antitrust law. The overall study consists of three parts. Part I (Chapters 1-8) introduces readers to the economic, moral, and legal concepts that play important roles in antitrust-policy analysis. Part II (Chapters 9-16) analyzes the impacts of eight types of conduct covered by antitrust policy and various possible government responses to such conduct in terms of economic efficiency, the securing of liberal moral rights, and the instantiation of various utilitarian, non-utilitarian-egalitarian, and mixed conceptions of the moral good. Part III (Chapters 17-18) provides detailed information on US antitrust law and EU competition law, and compares the extent to which-when correctly interpreted and applied-these two bodies of law could ensure economic efficiency, protect liberal moral rights, and instantiate various morally defensible conceptions of the moral good. This first volume contains Part I and the first two chapters of Part II of the overall study-the two chapters that focus on oligopolistic and predatory conduct of all kinds, respectively. The book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students of economics and law who are interested in welfare economics, antitrust legality and the General Theory of the Second Best.

This book is the first to empirically examine the role of non-competition interests (public policy) in the enforcement of the EU's prohibition on anti-competitive agreements. Based on an original quantitative and qualitative database of over 3,100 cases, this book records all of the public enforcement actions of Article 101 TFEU taken by the Commission, EU Courts, and the national competition authorities and courts of five representative Member States (France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and the UK). The book not only exposes explicit tools in which non-competition interests played a role, but also sheds light on the "dark matter" of balancing, namely, invisible forms of balancing triggered by the institutional and procedural setup of the competition enforcers. Moreover, it contributes to the empirical-legal study of various other aspects of EU competition law enforcement, such as its objectives, the more economic approach, decentralized enforcement, and the functioning and success of Regulation 1/2003.

A common criticism of the competition rules posed by EU authorities is that they are too inflexible, thereby prohibiting adequate responses to economic and industrial shocks. Competition Law in Crisis challenges this suggestion through an examination of competition responses to crises past and present. With an analysis spanning the response of UK and EU competition authorities to the economic and commercial outfall of the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and potential responses to the climate crisis in the context of post-Brexit British industrial policy, the book argues that relaxing the competition regime is precisely the wrong response. The rigidity of competition rules in the UK and EU has both normative and positive implications for not just the methodology used in competition analysis, but also the role of competition law within the legal order of both jurisdictions. The book concludes with a discussion of the place of the competition in the UK's and EU's legal order.

This handbook brings together an international roster of competition law scholars and practitioners to address the issue of sanctions in competition law from all angles. Covering nineteen jurisdictions around the world, the book analyzes the theoretical foundations and practice of sanctioning competition law infringements and, most importantly, cartels. Contributors include a range of experts drawing on criminal law, company law, labor law, human rights, and law and economics, to determine what sanctions are available as a matter of positive law against corporations and individuals, including fines and other criminal, administrative, and civil law sanctions; whether law enforcers are using these sanctions effectively; and if new sanctions - including individual sanctions - should be introduced.

Due to the growing influence of economics and economists in competition law and policy discourse and the internationalization of antitrust, the equity versus efficiency trade-off debate has played a defining role in the transformation of the dominant paradigm governing competition law enforcement since at least the 1970s. The debate remains crucial today as issues of economic inequality and its interaction with efficiency become of central concern to policy and decision-makers in competition law, as well as in other spheres of public policy. Despite their central role in the grammar of competition law on the global plane, the intellectual underpinnings of the interactions between 'equity' and 'efficiency' in the context of competition law have never been examined in-depth. This book aims precisely to fill this gap by discussing new approaches in understanding the role of efficiency and equity concerns in competition law.