Dit is een samenvatting voor het vak European Law en gaat over EU competition law, article 101 TFEU en enforcement of articles 101 and 102 TFEU. De samenvatting is in het Engels en bevat ook de jurisprudentie behorende bij het thema.
26.1. introduction
The key provisions of EU competition law:
- 101 TFEU
- 102 TFEU
- MR 139/2004
- Regulation 1/2003
26.2. objectives of EU competition law
Competition policy can be defined as comprising measures and instruments used
by governments to influence conditions of competition that exist in a market.
Competition law is concerned with ensuring that firms operating in the free
market economy do not restrict or distort competition in a way that prevents the
market from functioning optimally. More specifically competition law prohibits
arrangements between firms which restrict competition, abuses of market power
by dominant firms and the creation of anti-competitive mergers.
Competition law is a servant of competition policy.
Since the cases Consten and Grundig it has been accepted that the fundamental
objective of EU competition law is to ensure that business conduct does not
partition (verdelen) the EU along national borders. On many occasions the ECJ
and the commission have emphasised that the creation and maintenance of the
internal market is the most important objective of EU competition law.
Although, with the reform of EU competition law new objectives have been set,
i.e. the promotion of economic efficiency and consumer welfare, this does not,
however, mean that market integration is no longer relevant. The objective of
market integration has not been abandoned.
The 2000 Commission Guidelines on Vertical Restraints provide that ‘the
protection of competition is the primary objective of EU competition law, as this
enhances consumer welfare and creates an efficient allocation of resources’.
Nowadays in the EU the objective of market integration runs in parallel with the
objective of the promotion of consumer welfare and efficient allocation of
resources. When these clash it seems that, despite the Commission’s policy
statements which appear to assign a secondary role to the objective of market
integration, the ECJ will support the objective of market integration rather than
the objective of enhancement of efficiency and consumer welfare.
26.3. the personal scope of application of EU competition law – the
definition of an undertaking
EU competition law applies only to undertakings. No definition in Treaties and
secondary legislation.
Case law indicates that under EU competition law any natural or legal person:
- Engaged in any economic activity and
- Enjoying some autonomy in determining its conduct on the relevant
market
should be regarded as an undertaking.
26.3.1. the meaning of ‘economic activity’
In Case Höfner, the ECJ stated that the concept of an ‘undertaking’ covers any
entity engaged in an economic activity, regardless of its legal status and the way
, in which it is financed, and any activity consisting of offering goods and services
in a given market is an economic activity.
The case law indicates that the term ‘economic activity’ refers to:
- An activity consisting of provision of goods and services on the market and
- An activity which can be carried out by private undertakings in order to
make a profit and therefore if such an activity is carried out by a public
body this does not change the nature of the activity, i.e. it remains an
economic activity.
An entity may be an undertaking under EU competition law with regard to some
of its activities and an non-undertaking with regard to the remaining activities
(this is of importance for public bodies for example).
The ECJ has excluded two types of activities from the scope of EU competition
law:
- Those based on the principle of national solidarity. This concerns bodies
that fulfil an exclusively social function and
- Those which are connected with the exercise of powers which are typically
those of a public authority
26.3.1.1. activities based on the principle of solidarity
A body managing a compulsory social protection scheme will not be classified as
an undertaking under EU competition law if it satisfies three criteria:
- Non-profit-making entity which pursues purely social objectives
- It provides social protection based on the principle of solidarity
- The essential elements of the scheme that the body in question manages
are subject to State supervision
26.3.1.2. activities which are connected with the exercise of powers
which are typically those of a public authority
The issue of how to determine which activities are connected with the exercise of
public powers was examined in case Sistemi.
The General Court held that activities of an entity must be considered individually
and the fact that some of them are connected to the exercise of public powers
does not mean that the other are not economic in nature. Consequently, each
activity, if it can be severed from those in which the entity engages as a public
authority, must be assessed separately with a view to deciding whether or not it
is of an economic nature.
The ECJ confirmed this reasoning, but stated that each activity should be
assessed in the light of the mission of Eurocontrol, i.e. its pursuit of public service
objectives.
This case emphasises that the existence of a competitive or potentially
competitive market in the relevant area will be decisive in determining whether a
specific activity can be classified as being of an economic nature and thus within
the scope of EU competition law.
The definition of an undertaking, being based on economic activity, means that
for the application of EU competition law the following are immaterial (van geen
betekenis).
26.3.1.3. the legal personality or form of the body in question
The definition of undertaking has included a Committee organising the World
Cup, professional sport clubs, private individuals engaged in any form of
business, commerce or profession, partnerships and co-operatives. In Case
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