European Competition Law Annual 2005

This is the tenth in a series of volumes based on the annual workshops on EU Competition Law and Policy held at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute in Florence. The volume reproduces the materials of the roundtable debate which examined the interaction between competition law and intellectual property law. The workshop participants - a group of senior representatives of the Commission and the national competition authorities of some EC Member States, reknowned international academics and legal practitioners - discussed the economic and legal issues that arise in this particular area of application of the EC competition rules, under the following headings: 1) whether the characteristics of intellectual property products/markets justify special treatment under the competition rules; 2) a critical assessment of the Block Exemption Regulation and corresponding Guidelines recently adopted in this area of EC competition law enforcement; 3) the specific enforcement issues that arise in relation to patent pools and collecting societies; and 4) specific problems related to IP in the domains of merger control and application of Article 82 EC.

This is the twelfth in a series on EU Competition Law and Policy produced by the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute in Florence. The volume reproduces the written contributions and transcripts in connection with a roundtable debate which examined the EU's enforcement policy as regards the abuse of a dominant position under Article 82 EC. The workshop participants included: senior enforcement officials and policy makers from the European Commission, from the national competition authorities of certain EU Member States and from the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission; and renowned international academics, legal practitioners and professional economists. In an intense, intimate environment, this group of experts debated a number of legal and economic issues structured according to three broad lines of discussion: 1) comparisons of the concept of monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Act with that of abuse of dominance under Article 82 EC; 2) a reformed approach to exclusionary unilateral conduct; and 3) exploitative unilateral conduct and related remedies.

This volume contains papers presented at the 17th Annual EU Competition Law and Policy Workshop, organized by Philip Lowe and Mel Marquis and held at the European University Institute on 13-14 July 2012. From a variety of angles the book explores the themes of competition, regulation and certain public policies; their interactions; and, in some cases, their mutual tensions. The authors of the various chapters consider legal and economic issues relating to network industries, industrial, environmental and trade policies, and intellectual property and innovation policies, among others. Comparative views and the views of judges from different jurisdictions are provided, and techniques for mediating among different policy objectives and frameworks are discussed. Authors contributing to this book include: Rafael Allendesalazar, Robert D Anderson, Marco Boccaccio, Ginevra Bruzzone, Cristina Caffarra, Alexandre de Streel, Ian Forrester, Douglas Ginsburg, Geert Goeteyn, Calvin Goldman, Daniel Haar, Küllike Jürimäe, Suzanne Kingston, Lars Kjølbye, Paul Lugard, Mel Marquis, Veljko Milutinovic, Giorgio Monti, Anna Caroline Müller, Rosa Perna, Anthony Pygram, Philip Lowe, Pierre Régibeau and Jon Stern.

This is the eleventh in the series on EU Competition Law and Policy produced by the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute in Florence. The volume reproduces the materials of the roundtable debate which examined the enforcement of the prohibition on cartels. The workshop participants - senior representatives of the Commission and the national competition authorities of some EC Member States, renowned international academics and legal practitioners - discussed the economic and legal issues that arise in this particular area, including: 1) unearthing cartels: the evidence; 2) the institutional framework and 3) tools of enforcement.

This volume contains papers presented at the 18th Annual EU Competition Law and Policy Workshop. The papers examine means of balancing effective (public) competition law enforcement and the requirements of legitimate and accountable exercise of public authority. The authors address the design and performance of various enforcement tools at European and national levels, including sanctions and remedies but also distinctive instruments under Regulation 1/2003 (eg commitment procedures) and under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Article 106(3) when used as a basis for infringement procedures). From the perspective of legitimacy, reflections focus on the implications of fundamental rights standards and general principles of law for the EU's complex and quasi-federal enforcement architecture. Issues that may sometimes escape judicial scrutiny are also discussed, such as how agencies prioritise their activities, and how investigation responsibilities are distributed within the European Competition Network. Effectiveness and legitimacy are then considered in the context of public enforcement cooperation beyond the EU, where international organisations, regional cooperation and a range of formal and informal modes of governance prevail.

The European Competition Law Annual 2003 is the eighth in a series of volumes following the annual workshops on EU Competition Law and Policy held at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University in Florence. The volume reproduces the materials of the roundtable debate that took place at the eighth Workshop and is dedicated to the question What is an Abuse of a Dominant Position?. It contains the usual mix of expert discussion and expert papers presented by the participants at this annual gathering of leading EU and international experts on competition law.

No branch of European law has been as subject to expansion and change as competition law. Between the enormous forces of globalisation, technology, and EU enlargement, the Commission and national competition authorities have been compelled to keep rethinking their practices and procedures and issuing new regulations. Now, in the wake of its highly acclaimed predecessors, the new Third Edition of European Competition Law offers the practitioner everything required to act in accordance with the latest developments in the field. Along with the thorough guide to continuing practice that its readers have come to expect, European Competition Law in its Third Edition fully covers such areas as the following: the Commission's new assessment of distribution practices and vertical restraints, in particular the block exemptions granted by Regulations 2790/1999 and 1400/2002; procedure before national competition authorities and national courts for enforcement of European rules under Regulation 1/2003; the new Merger Control Regulation in force as of 1 May 2004; the new Transfer of Technology Regulation; and, the increased fines for hard-core cartel practices or abuse of dominant market position. The Third Edition is remarkable in that it actually previews the substantive and procedural rules that will be coming into effect during 2004 and subsequent years. And, like prior editions, the work has no peer in its coverage of past administrative practice and the case law of the Court of Justice. All in all, European Competition Law, Third Edition, will be of immeasurable value to practitioners who need to keep informed about how EC competition laws are applied, so they can continue to render practical, meaningful advice to firms whose agreements, transactions and conduct in the marketplace are governed by competition rules.