One of the key components of the modernization of competition rules has been a radical departure from the previous «form-based» enforcement to a so-called «effects-based» approach. Taking stock of ten years of experience under this new policy, the present book analyses the changes brought about, as well as the practical problems encountered in its day-to-day application, be it by competition law enforcers, judges or practitioners. This book compiles the reports prepared for the 2011 Annual Conference of the Global Competition Law Centre (“GCLC”). Each and every chapter of this volume formulates concrete proposals as to how the system can be clarified or even improved. The focus is not only on the enforcement of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, but also in the file of merger control. Attempts are made to define more precisely the boundaries between anticompetitive object and effect, and to develop adequate safe harbours and presumptions. This book also casts a closer look at the analytical framework, possible theories of harm, evidence and defences. Overall the objective is to reconcile as best as possible law and economics, and to see how the goal to achieve the “right decision” in terms of economic outcome can be combined with the legitimate need for legal certainty.

One of the key components of the modernization of competition rules has been a radical departure from the previous "form-based" enforcement to a so-called "effects-based" approach. Taking stock of ten years of experience under this new policy, the present book analyses the changes brought about, as well as the practical problems encountered in its day-to-day application, be it by competition law enforcers, judges or practitioners. This book compiles the reports prepared for the 2011 Annual Conference of the Global Competition Law Centre ("GCLC"). Each and every chapter of this volume formulates concrete proposals as to how the system can be clarified or even improved. The focus is not only on the enforcement of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, but also in the file of merger control. Attempts are made to define more precisely the boundaries between anticompetitive object and effect, and to develop adequate safe harbours and presumptions. This book also casts a closer look at the analytical framework, possible theories of harm, evidence and defences. Overall the objective is to reconcile as best as possible law and economics, and to see how the goal to achieve the "right decision" in terms of economic outcome can be combined with the legitimate need for legal certainty.

The controversy surrounding EU competition rules has grown in recent years. Pressure from such phenomena as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the digital economy have fostered a fragmentation in the interpretation of the rules at both national and EU levels. This volume takes stock of the current situation, assessing the successes and failures of the prevailing ‘modernisation’ policy and setting forth a range of potential legal adaptations designed to offer the right responses to a rapidly changing world. The book’s contributions are based on papers delivered at the 2022 Annual Conference of the Global Competition Law Center (GCLC) at the College of Europe in Bruges. The authors include prominent practitioners and academics, members of the European Commission, representatives of national competition authorities, and judges from both EU and national courts. They address such salient issues as the following: free competition versus ‘regulated competition’ as alternative or complementary models; new methods for the identification of consumer harm and benefits; sui generis competition law regimes for specific sectors; State aid enforcement and crisis management; and the green and digital objectives and their legal and political implications. Taken together, the essays provide extensive treatment of the EU Courts’ jurisprudence and the literature in the field. For practitioners, policymakers and academics working with competition law, the book will clearly explain the new competencies of the Commission, raise awareness of the latest case law on the analysis of effects, and ensure a forward-looking approach to competition law enforcement in Europe.

During the last decade the European Commission has progressively adopted what is called a and‘more economic approachand’ toward competition policy. This approach, which draws on U.S. antitrust policy, puts greater emphasis on possible welfare effects of business practices and is less concerned with competitive market structures. Under this school of thought concentration cannot be said to impede effective competition to the extent that efficiency gains outweigh market distortions. In order to stimulate the debate on this basic reorientation, in January 2009 the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law at Hamburg convened economists, legal scholars, and practitioners for an exchange of views on these and‘newand’ methodological foundations of EU competition policy and competition law. Two especially controversial elements were chosen for in-depth discussion: the prohibition of abuses of dominant positions and the review of State aid. This book reproduces fourteen papers from this conference, representing the considered views of prominent European lawyers, economists, academics, policymakers, and enforcement officials in the competition field on matters such as: the objectives of EU competition law; the current enforcement guidelines of the EU Commission regarding Article 102 TFEU and? measuring market power; abusive low pricing strategies; the economics of competition law enforcemennt; recent developments in EU State aid law; economic justifications for State aid. A critical assessment of the Commissionand’s State aid action plan by the German Monopolies Commission is appended in English. Applying law and economics theory to competition law, this book shows that the and‘more economicand’ approach is exerting a considerable impact on various sectors of competition law. The authors clearly demonstrate the progress that can be made when lawyers and economists take notice of and respect the characteristics of each otherand’s discipline. Moreover, the authors show how new insights of economic theory may be integrated into the relevant legal analysis. The book will therefore be appreciated by academics, practitioners, and officials representing both fields.

Based on a unique and comprehensive database, The Shaping of EU Competition Law combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to shed light on the evolution of EU competition law. It brings a new perspective to some of the most topical issues in the field including due process and the intensity of judicial review. The author's main purpose is to examine how the institutional structure influences the substance of EU competition law provisions. He seeks to identify patterns in the behaviour of the European Commission and the EU Courts and how they interact with each other. In particular, his analysis considers how the European Commission reacts to the case law and whether, and in what instances, the EU courts defer to the analysis of the administrative authority. The analysis is supported by the database and an unprecedented array of statistics and figures free to view online.