European Competition Law Annual 2013

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.

This volume contains papers presented at the 16th Annual EU Competition Law and Policy Workshop, held at the European University Institute on 17-18 June 2011. This edition of the Workshop examined the emerging and increasingly important use of private rights of action before national courts, and the prospects for legislation and soft law initiatives at the level of the EU. The book has been updated and reflects the European Commission's private enforcement package of June 2013. Furthermore, the experiences of various national jurisdictions are discussed, both within Europe and in the US and Canada. As a whole, the volume explores how public and private enforcement might function harmoniously, as an 'integrated' system, to promote the public interest while ensuring that individual rights created in this field by the EU competition rules are vindicated. The contributors have, however, devoted significant analysis to the tensions between those two modes of enforcement. Authors contributing to this book include: Enno Ahlenstiel Donald Baker Jochen Burrichter Horst Butz Scott Campbell Brian Facey Tristan Feunteun Ian Forrester Andrew Foster Andrew Gavil Barry Hawk James Keyte Assimakis Komninos Bruno Lasserre Frédéric Louis Mel Marquis Veljko Milutinovic Luis Silva Morais Tom Ottervanger Silvia Pietrini Mark Powell John Ratliff J Thomas Rosch David Rosner Mario Siragusa James Venit

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.

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.

The European Competition Law Annual 2004 is ninth 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 Institute in Florence. The volume reproduces the materials of the roundtable debate that took place at the ninth edition of the workshop (11-12 June 2004), which examined the relationship between competition law and the regulation of (liberal) professions. The (liberal) professions and the rules governing their functioning have become of interest for EC competition law enforcement since the early nineties, making the object of a series of Commission decisions and judgments of the European courts. The subject has gained in importance in the perspective of the recent decentralisation of EC antitrust enforcement. The regulation of (liberal) professions is also a matter of increasing concern from the perspective of freedom of services in the internal market. The workshop participants - a group of senior representatives of the Commission and the national competition authorities of some Member States, reknown international academics and legal practitioners - discussed the economic, legal and political/institutional issues that arise in the relationship between competition law and the regulation of (liberal) professions.

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.

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.