Competition Law And Industrial Policy In The Eu

This book provides a new analytical framework for legal problems concerning the economic order of the European Union. In order to determine the remaining scope for national economic sovereignty, and the improvement of the economic order of the Community itself, the focus of the book is the contentious relationship between competition and industrial policy under European law. The theoretical perspective used is based on a comparison between the concepts of the Treaty as an economic constitution and as a political constitution. On this basis, the convergence of competition and industrial policy at the Community level is explained as the result of the rationalisation of public policy, and the reduction of the economic independence of the member states. The study concludes that the market orientation of the European Union is not in doubt, but that a clear link remains to be established between the legitimacy of public intervention in the economy and the distribution of power in the Community system.

This volume provides a new analytical framework for legal problems concerning the economic order of the European Union and the future of the European social model.

This innovative textbook, now in its second edition, presents EU competition law in political, economic and comparative context. It brings competition law to life from an EU and global perspective, with cross currents of trade and industrial policy and attention to the intervention of the state in the market. Quintessentially readable, the book deftly and concisely excerpts the key cases and embeds them in explanatory materials, including policy statements and regulations. It is entirely up to date and integrates, for example, new issues of power in the digital economy. Notes accompanying the cases raise hard questions and explain the fascinating issues underlying contemporary competition policy in the European Union and around the world. The book covers the full range of competition law and policy subjects, namely: the Treaties and the single market, cartels, other horizontal and vertical agreements, abuses of dominance, merger control, and state restraints including State aids. Among key features, the book: integrates law, economics and policies, providing a holistic sense of competition law and its place in the EU system is unusually concise, given its coverage, while explaining the critical nuances of cases by means of notes and questions provides a unique comparative perspective by including excerpts of landmark US antitrust cases and numerous other comparative references. This book is a perfect textbook for students of EU competition law and even competition law in general, given that most nations in the antitrust family of the world build their competition laws upon the EU model. It is useful for specialized seminars on European, US, and other nations' and regions' competition laws. It is also an excellent desk book and resource for academics, enforcers and practitioners in the field.

Competition Policy in the European Union provides a comprehensive introduction to the European Union's policies on restrictive practices, mergers monopolies and state aid. The authors offer a wide ranging analysis of the evolution, operation and regulation of one of the EU's most important policies in a clear and accessible format.

Mateus and Moreira present a formidable review of pressing issues in competition law and economics. Top officials, judges and experts from Europe and North America offer their insights into analytical issues, practical problems for companies, enforcers and complainants and on the state of trans-Atlantic divergence and convergence. The discussion on national champions and state aid is prescient. Throughout, the analysis is acute, cutting edge, and deep. Officials, counsel and scholars will draw from this fabulous book for years to come. Philip Marsden, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, London, UK Competition policy is at a crossroads on both sides of the Atlantic. In this insightful book, judges, enforcers and academics in law and economics look at the consensus built so far and clarify controversies surrounding the issue. There is broad consensus on the fight against cartels, with some countries criminalizing this type of agreement. However there is also wide debate on the questions of monopolization and abuse of dominant position, vividly highlighted by the recent Microsoft case. Furthermore, there are today diverging views on the interplay of business strategies and the control of market power on both a national and international scale. The book discusses the perennial issue in Europe of the conflicts between competition and industrial policies, once again bringing the theme of national champions to the fore. The contributing authors provide opinion on the efforts which have been made towards modernization in both the USA and the EU. Featuring new contributions by leading scholars and practitioners in antitrust, this book will be a great resource for antitrust enforcers, competition lawyers and practitioners and competition economists, as well as scholars and graduate students in antitrust and competition law.

Examines the political power struggles that have shaped the evolution of European competition regulation over the past six decades

Increasingly, EU market regulation measures have been introduced in the pursuit of economic justice and welfare. This book illustrates how regulation can help to prevent the abuse of dominance, in particular the abuse of public capital by the state.

Competition policy is an integral and prominent part of economic policy-making in the European Union. The EU Treaty prescribes its member states to conduct economic policy ‘in accordance with the principle of an open market economy with free competition’. More precisely, the goal of EU competition policy is “to defend and develop effective competition in the common market” (European Commission, 2000: 7). Under its Commissioners van Miert, Monti and, most - cently, Kroes the EU Commission has stepped up its effort to pursue and achieve the aforementioned goal. A number of so-called hard-core cartels, such as the - torious “vitamin cartel” led by Roche, have been detected, tried in violation of Art. 81 of the Maastricht Accord and punished with severe fines. Also Microsoft was hit hard by the strong hand of the Commission having been severely fined for - ploiting a dominant market position. Economic analysis has been playing an increasingly significant role in the Commission’s examination of competition law cases. This holds true in particular for merger control. Here, however, the Commission has had to accept some poi- ant defeats in court, such as the Court’s reversals of Airtours-First Choice or GE- Honeywell. Among other things, the European Court of Justice found the e- nomic analysis as conducted by the EU’s Directorate General for Competition to be flawed and the conclusions drawn not to be convincing. These rejections by the courts have stirred up the scholarly debate on the conceptual foundations of Eu- pean competition policy.