This is an extraordinarily useful book for anyone practicing in the area of competition law before the European Commission or the European Courts. It focuses on procedure in the four principal fields that entail enforcement of substantive competition rules: antitrust, merger, anti-dumping/anti-subsidies, and state aid. The author proposes modifications in the four procedures that eliminate unnecessary differences among them, save time and money, and offer better protection of the rights of the concerned parties while preserving effective enforcement of the relevant rules. Each of the first four chapters offers an in-depth analysis of the rights and obligations of the private parties concerned in proceedings in each of the four fields, from their initiation up to termination by the adoption of specific measures as appropriate. Three comparative tables, which consolidate the analysis made in these chapters, introduce the fifth chapter, which provides detailed comparative analysis and proposals for reform. Among the many practical issues raised are the following: the obligations of an undertaking during the fact-finding procedure of the Commission in antitrust cases; the extent to which the right to confidential communication between lawyer and client in antitrust cases is recognized by the European Commission and the European Courts; the existence of a right to silence to avoid self-incrimination in antitrust cases; the right to respect for confidentiality and the right to be heard during the preliminary fact-finding procedure of the Commission in antitrust cases; the right of access to the Commission file in antitrust cases; the right to a fair hearing in merger and anti-dumping/anti-subsidies cases; the right of directly involved parties to bring an action before the European Courts in anti-dumping/anti-subsidies and state aid cases; the rights of the complainants in antitrust cases; the right to a fair hearing in antitrust cases; the rights and obligations of beneficiaries in state aid cases; the applicability of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights to EU antirust procedures; and complaints in state aid cases. The book will be very useful in planning the handling of a case, as it describes the procedure and the rights and obligations of all parties from first to last. The author's analysis draws on all the relevant judgments of the European Courts, and the book comes with a wealth of reference material, including detailed footnotes, lists of legislation and cases in both chronological and alphabetical order, and an extensive bibliography. Law firms specializing in European competition law, Commission judges and case-handlers, and lawyers defending enterprises are among the practitioners who will benefit greatly by using this book. As the only book that contains an in-depth analysis of the rights and obligations of the parties in all the four fields and in a comparative perspective, it is also uniquely valuable to jurists and academics.

It is the thesis of this fascinating and highly instructive book on competition law that an examination of one landmark case, scenario, or 'saga' each from a range of legal systems leads to a thorough understanding of the issues informing and arising from competition policy, law, and legal practice. To that end, leading scholars from 14 jurisdictions enhance their academic authority and rigour with an element of panache to describe a particularly salient case in each of their countries, commenting in depth on the contribution of the case to the development of their particular competition law culture and to the case's enduring significance for competition law and its enforcement from a global perspective. There are chapters for each of thirteen countries as well as the European Union, preceded by an informative and thoughtful introduction. For each landmark case selected, the legislative background, the case facts, and the legal ruling and reasoning are all minutely described, along with commentary, critique, and assessment of the case's impact and contemporary significance. The cases cover vast swathes of the competition law territory in terms of substance and procedure, dealing with cartels, abuse of dominance, mergers, and vertical restraints, and involving diverse forms of public and private enforcement processes. Aspects covered include the following: the public interest test; bid-rigging in public procurement; the entitlement of dominant companies to compete on a level footing with other companies; the hard-to-draw line between legitimate competition and unlawful monopolizing conduct; the dangers of eclectic borrowing in the development and interpretation of competition law rules; horizontal price-fixing collusion 'hub and spoke' cartels; resale price maintenance agreements and the U.S. 'rule of reason'; the increasing use of private enforcement and the right for victims of a competition law infringement to seek compensation; merger control in energy markets and the political use of merger review rules to benefit domestic firms; cooperation with criminal enforcement agencies and prosecutors; the role courts play in undertaking adequate legal supervision of competition authorities; leniency processes and obtaining access to 'confidential' whistleblowing documentation; imposition of administrative fines and other deterrence-based sanctions; and how the 'consumer welfare' standard is interpreted. More than a set of landmark case descriptions, this book, in which many chapters reflect upon recent and consider further future significant reforms, demonstrates that competition law and its enforcement processes form part of a chronological narrative, and that it is important to understand the broader legal, social, and economic context within which competition law and policy develop.

This book examines the role and utility of competition law within the EU's legislative and regulatory dialogue, using its response to crisis conditions as a test of its aims and abilities. As such, its main conclusion is that competition policy acts as a forum for debate as to the direction of the European integration project, while competition law can serve as a tool for aiding in the implementation of broader policy objectives. The analysis here explores the role of the general economic context in the application of competition law, the existence of identifiable baselines applicable in crisis conditions, the ability and role of national competition authorities in applying competition law, and the ways in which the European Commission's overarching policy goals can influence the application of competition law.The decision to take an empirical approach to this research project stems from a conviction that an investigation into the real world situations faced by firms and consumers should underpin the evaluation of the applicable legal rules. Over the past number of years, the Commission has exerted more and more influence over the development of the regional and global airline industry, and this book identifies the emergence of an apparent overarching aim on the part of the Commission to create a market with a handful of ultra-competitive airlines with international reach serviced by an array of smaller feeder airlines on a regional basis. The study of Irish beef processing, on the other hand, identifies a high level of government involvement in providing the strategic thinking behind a crisis cartel scheme, and then demonstrates how the economic context exerted considerably more pressure on the government and the national court than on the competition authorities involved.

The role of the EU competition law rules in shaping the EU Internal Market can hardly be overstated. The EU substantive rules dealing with cartels, abuse of dominance and State aid have ensured, in the past decades, a much desired unity of the law applied in the diverse European markets. Yet, much of the success of the EU competition law provisions depends on its practical enforcement. The proliferation of competition law enforcement, especially since 2004, stands testimony in this respect. However, this has not come without challenges. In this context, this book aims to critically discuss certain key elements relating to the domestic enforcement of the said rules, in order to place the discussion of further boosting this enforcement exercise in the correct context. This book aims, in this respect, to find an answer to the following question: to what extent would boosting the domestic enforcement of the EU competition law rules aid the ambition of more forceful, better targeted and more resource-efficient EU competition law enforcement in the Internal Market? Topics such as the following are discussed in the contributions included in this book: the sufficiency of the enforcement toolbox of national competition authorities, the interaction between fundamental rights and competition law, and the duties of domestic bodies in this context.

Despite the substantial benefits of standards in today's economy, the recent advent of standard essential patents (SEPs) - which protect proprietary technologies essential for industry standards - has tended to create a setting for anticompetitive practices that, at least potentially, harms competition and consumer welfare. An opportunistic SEP owner can intentionally conceal the existence of its patents during the standardization process, or later hold up manufacturers and impose on them exploitative licensing conditions. This book, through an intensive focus on case law in the United States and the European Union, clarifies the scope of competition law in addressing SEP owners' opportunistic conduct, and offers the first comprehensive analysis of the antitrust liability an SEP owner might face in each jurisdiction. The presentation thoroughly explains all of the following relevant topics and issues: processes through which standards are adopted and implemented by market participants; principal antitrust concerns that might arise in the standardization context; elements that competition authorities and courts should take into account in evaluating SEP owners' market power; the role of "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" (FRAND) commitments; applicability of competition law to a SEP owner's deceptive practices during the standardization process; applicability of competition law to strategic licensing by SEP owners; gaps competition law faces when addressing a SEP owner's opportunistic practices; available antitrust remedies that could be imposed on a SEP owner whose conduct violates competition laws; and what role competition law should play in stimulating the development of preventive mechanisms or remedies available outside the competition law domain. An extensive bibliography includes a broad range of sources from statutes and cases to speeches and blogs. Practicing lawyers and companies that need to identify the limits that competition law imposes on SEP owners' conduct will benefit immeasurably from the wealth of both information and insight provided here. The book will also be of great value for competition policymakers and academics in the field; the latter will also appreciate the substantial comparative law value of the book's parallel study of US and EU competition law.

Antitrust policy nominally plays an instrumental public interest role. The generally accepted notion is that it is a government instrument designed to intervene in relatively unregulated markets in order to preserve rivalry among independent buyers and sellers. Competition authorities are supposed to restrain business conduct that exercises monopoly power aimed at excluding competitors or exploiting consumers and clients. Thus it can be said - although few pro-market theorists make the insight explicit - that antitrust provisions reveal mistrust of the capacity of markets to promote social welfare. The inner logic, enforcement mechanisms, and practical outcomes of antitrust provisions are all intrinsically contradictory to the natural dynamic course of market functioning. In Dr. De Leon's challenging thesis, this mistrust of the market lies at the root of antitrust policy, giving rise always to a preference towards 'predicting' the result of impersonal market forces rather than interpreting the entrepreneurial behaviour which creates those forces. And it is in Latin America that he finds the powerful evidence he needs to support his case. From the formative years of Latin American economic institutions, during the Spanish Empire, economic regulations - far from being driven by the pursuit of promoting free trade and economic freedom - have been conceived, enacted and implemented in the context of deeply anti-market public policies, trade mercantilism and government dirigisme. The so-called neoliberalA" revolution of the 1990s triggered by the Washington Consensus did not really change the interventionist innuendo of these policies, but merely restated the social welfare goal to be achieved: the pursuit of economic efficiency. Dr. De Leon presents his case against the assumption that consumer welfare orientated policies such as antitrust do really promote entrepreneurship and market goals. Paradoxically, antitrust enforcement has undermined the transparency of market institutions, in the name of promoting market competition. The author's provocative analysis marshals several sets of facts in support of his thesis, including the actual functioning of antitrust policy as reflected in case law in various Latin American countries, the preference of merger control over other less intrusive forms of market surveillance, the constrained role of competition advocacy against government acts, and the ineffective institutional structure created to apply the policy. Among the many specific topics treated are the following: * government immunity; * strategic industries; * state-owned enterprises; * politically influential groups; * measurement of market concentration; * the burden of proof of social welfare benefits; * the role of joint trade associations and professional guilds; * institutional arrangements that favour collusion; * selective distribution; * sector regulation; * erosion of property rights; * marginal role of courts in the antitrust system; * leniency programs; and * privatized public utilities. The growing significance of Latin America in the context of economic globalization endows this book with huge international interest. Written by a leading authority on the topic, this is the first book that presents a detailed description of Latin American antitrust law and policy as it has been developed through numerous judicial opinions. A wide variety of audiences around the world will find it of extraordinary value: competition law specialists, scholars and students of the subject, policymakers and politicians in Latin America, as well as all interested lawyers, jurists, and economists.

It probably goes without saying that anti-monopoly law and practice are of very recent vintage in China. In August 2008, 118 years after the Sherman Act and 50 years after the Treaty of Rome, China's Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) came into effect. Since then the enforcement of the AML has seen significant progress as well as considerable challenges. This volume, comprised of 27 highly informative contributions by more than 40 government officials, academics, economists, in-house lawyers, and private practitioners, introduces novice practitioners to the complexities of antitrust law in China and provides new insight for those already working in the field. Generally following the structure of the text of the AML, topics and issues covered include the following:; an overview of the first five years of AML implementation; the institutional framework for antitrust enforcement in China; monopoly agreements between market players; abuses of dominance committed by a single company; problems and potential solutions for information exchanges between competitors; the economics underlying retail price maintenance; refusals to deal; procedural and substantive practice of merger decisions; the application of merger control to joint ventures; 'administrative monopolies' and the tension between competition and industrial policies; ways to seek legal redress; litigation (both administrative and civil) and the role of the courts; international cooperation efforts made in relation to Chinese antitrust enforcers; the relationship between the AML and China's anti-bribery rules; the treatment of vertical integration or cooperation; and how the AML rules apply to intellectual property rights. Throughout the book there are analyses of major judgments with key conclusions to be drawn from them, as well as comparisons with corresponding judgments in other jurisdictions. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the AML, and as such will be of inestimable value to business persons and in-house counsel, as well as to academics in Chinese law and competition law from a global perspective.

Recently cited by the Tenth Circuit in Kay Electric Cooperative vs. City of Newkirk and#8220;with its usual care Professor Areeda and Hovenkampand#8217;s treatise traces all these warps and weftsand#8221; in analyzing a municipalityand#8217;s antitrust immunity in light of state authorizing legislation. The authoritative antitrust resource covering mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property and antitrust, predatory pricing, antitrust issues in healthcare, media, and other areas, monopolizing conduct, andquot;substantialandquot; market power, market share and buyer concentration, interlocking directors, refusals to deal, territorial customer limitation, product tying, contractual arbitration provisions; widely cited by the courts, including more than 100 citations by the Supreme Court and FTC combined. By Phillip E. Areeda, Herbert Hovenkamp The authority of Areeda and Hovenkamp's Antitrust Law is second to none. It has been cited more than 50 times by the Supreme Court, more than 50 times by the FTC, and more than 1,050 times by the federal courts. Most recently it was cited by the Supreme Court in American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League. No other source gives you all the law to avoid antitrust liability as you: Plan marketing strategies and develop pricing policies Structure mergers and acquisitions with attention to potential antitrust consequences Prove - or defend against - antitrust injury, monopolization, conspiracy, tying, and other allegation Among the real-world examples and proven strategies you can apply directly to your own cases, you'll find clear discussions of Intellectual property and antitrust Predatory pricing Antitrust issues in healthcare, media, and other areas Monopolizing conduct andquot;Substantialandquot; market power Market share and buyer concentration Interlocking directors Refusals to deal Territorial customer limitation Product tying Contractual arbitration provisions Plus in-depth examination of thousands of cases Antitrust Law is updated twice per year. A Cumulative Supplement is issued in April, and new volumes (Fourth Edition volumes starting in 2013) are issued in September. Highlights for the 2014 Supplement include: Complete update of antitrust and#8220;state actionand#8221; cases, including the Supreme Court's Phoebe Putney decision and its aftermath, plus the litigation in the North Carolina Dental teeth whitening case. See Chapter 2, and#182;227. Completely updated section on the law of antitrust class actions, including the Supreme Court's Comcast decision on the amount of common evidence of causation and harm required, and the Optronics decision on whether state Attorney General parens patriae actions qualify as class actions or and#8220;mass actionsand#8221; for purposes of the Class Action Fairness Act . See Chapter 3, and#182;331. Updated coverage of Supreme Court treatment of agreements requiring the arbitration of antitrust claims, including prohibitions on class-action treatment. See Chapter 3, and#182;311. Updates on the debate over the extent to which a relevant market must be proven in rule of reason antitrust actions and merger cases, or whether market power can be established by other means. See Chapter 15, and#182;1508. Updates on most-favored-nation clauses (MFNs), discounting practices including market share discounts, patent exclusion practices, Standards-Essential Patents (SEPs) and Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) royalty commitments. See Chapter 18, and#182;1807b1 and Chapter 20, and#182;2022f. All de