Object and intention under Article 101 TFEU: Lessons from Australia, New Zealand and analytical jurisprudence

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 114-141
Author(s):  
Kelvin Hiu Fai Kwok

What does it mean for an agreement to have an anticompetitive ‘object’ under Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union? Can the European Commission support an ‘object’ case by reference to the agreement parties’ subjective intention, and if so, how? What exactly is the relationship between an agreement’s object and the parties’ subjective intention under competition law? This article is the first to bring insights from Australian and New Zealand cases, as well as analytical jurisprudence, to bear on these underexplored yet important questions affecting the European Union and common law jurisdictions around the world. Using Ronald Dworkin’s theory of legal interpretation as the analytical basis, this article argues for a ‘mixed’ conception of the ‘object’ concept which enables an anticompetitive object to be proven either objectively or subjectively. Anticompetitive subjective intention accordingly provides an independent, alternative basis for competition law liability for agreements; the lack of such intention, meanwhile, does not help exculpate parties who are liable based on their objective purpose to restrict competition. This article also argues that voluntariness and evidentiary limits ought to be imposed on the use of anticompetitive subjective intention in the ‘object’ analysis of agreements.

Author(s):  
Michał Pietrzak ◽  
Marcin Mucha

In the period 1990–2013 sugar industry in Poland faced numerous legal transformations, shifting from nearly free-market conditions into a strongly regulated sector. Changes of the sugar industry regulations had a significant impact on the structure of the sugar market, companies’ actions and, as a result, on their performance. Accession to the European Union and the reform of the sugar regime conducted from 2006 to 2010 on the initiative of the European Commission involved deep restructuring and modernization of the factories, which caused growth of their productivity. However, prices of sugar in the EU and in Poland are much higher than prices on the world market.


Author(s):  
Sandra Marco Colino

This chapter focuses on the current interaction between European Union and UK law. EU law is currently a source of UK law. However, the relationship between the two regimes is expected to change in the future as a consequence of the UK’s decision to withdraw from the EU. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 stipulates that the European Communities Act 1972 will be ‘repealed on exit day’, which would be 29 March 2019 provided that the two-year period since Article 50 TEU was triggered is not extended. Once the European Communities Act 1972 has been repealed, EU law will cease to be a source of UK law. No major immediate changes to the national competition legislation are to be expected, but future reforms could distance the UK system from the EU rules.


Author(s):  
Steve Wilson ◽  
Helen Rutherford ◽  
Tony Storey ◽  
Natalie Wortley

This chapter provides an overview of the English legal system, introducing fundamental legal concepts, such as the nature of law and parliamentary sovereignty, and the differences between criminal law and civil law legal terminology, such as terminology and the outcomes. The sources of law, legislation in the form of Acts of Parliament or statutes and delegated legislation and common law or judge-made law are outlined. An outline of the courts is given, including the judges and the jurisdiction of the courts. The relationship between the English legal system and the European Union (EU) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is explained.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Nizar Baklouti ◽  
Frédéric Gautier ◽  
François Aubert

This study examines the effect of the legal system on the governance of banks and hence on financial distress. We compare corporate governance to the legal system in 18 countries of the European Union to explain the relationship between financial distress and bank governance. Using a sample of 147 commercial banks, we find that the effect of the legal system really counts. The results also suggest that banks operating in common law and civil law countries tend the concentration of ownership and board size to the effect of increasing the likelihood of financial distress. This study contributes to research in the governance of enterprise to provide empirical evidence that the legal system has the power to influence the financial health of banks.


Author(s):  
Ewa Latoszek ◽  
Agnieszka Kłos

The aim of this article is to present the essence of competition policy and its implementation in the European Union in the context of ongoing globalization of the world economy. The paper will present selected factors that stimulate the process of globalization, main objectives and tools supporting the functioning of the EU internal market, and the place of the European Commission as a body that enforces compliance with the rules of competition by companies and the Member States.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-196
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Żok

Free and open source software (FOSS) has undoubtedly become an important element of intellectual property law. It is therefore not surprising that the European Commission developed its own non-proprietary licence, i.e. the European Union Public Licence (EUPL). The article examines the reference to ‘a work of software’ to determine the scope of the licence. For this purpose, the paper discusses the reasons for the creation of the EUPL, the relationship between a work and software as well as the structure of a computer program. The following considerations also include the compatible licences listed in the EUPL Appendix. The article concludes that the reference to a work or software is not accidental because it removes serious doubts arising from the concept of a computer program. Thus, this legal solution may facilitate the wider adoption of the licence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Drake

The aim of this article is to identify why air passengers travelling in the European Union, endowed with the highest standard of consumer protection in the world under EU law, are still being denied their rights and finding it difficult to seek effective legal redress. This article argues that the principal cause of airlines’ non-compliance is the poor regulatory design of Regulation 261/2004, which has been compounded by inadequate application by the Member States and regulatory resistance by the airlines. This contribution will then demonstrate how the European Commission (‘Commission’) has responded through the adoption of both deterrence and compliance-based enforcement strategies, and maps out the mechanisms, tools and actors harnessed by the Commission to create a complex hybrid, multi-layered system of enforcement. The article reveals that enforcement gaps persist and argues that the effectiveness of the regime is unlikely to improve without legislative reform.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (14) ◽  
pp. 265-277
Author(s):  
Sandra Marco Colino

On 17th December 2015, the General Court of the European Union (GC) confirmed a fine of over EUR 127 million imposed by the European Commission (hereinafter the Commission) on the Polish telecommunications company Orange Polska (hereinafter OP), formerly known as Telekomunikacja Polska. According to the fining decision, issued in 2011 (hereinafter the Commission decision), OP abused its dominant position by refusing access to its wholesale broadband services to new entrants, acting in contravention of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).


2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 633
Author(s):  
Erwin Deutsch

This is an edited version of a paper delivered at a conference in Gijon, Spain in 2001. Professor Deutsch provides an introduction to, and overview of, the recently revised Declaration of Helsinki. Early sets of international rules put the benefit and the wellbeing of the experimental subject in the first place and insist on weighing the benefit and the danger of the experiment against each other. The article covers the history of the Declaration, arguments about reforming the Declaration, a critique of the New Declaration of Helsinki 2000, and the relationship between the Declaration and the European Union. 


Author(s):  
Irina Viktorovna Shugurova

The subject of this research is the analysis of interaction between the EU competition law and the intellectual property legislation in the conditions of the development of digital environment. The goal lies in determination of the peculiarities of observance of the EU competition law in the process of implementation and protection of the intellectual property rights. The author dwells on correlation between the principle of free movement of goods and services within the single market and the principle of territorial scope of exclusive rights. Analysis is conducted on the key provisions of the European Commission Regulation, which exclude certain agreements, namely on the transfer of technologies, from the Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The main conclusion lies in the theoretical assumption that the EU legal policy in the sphere of competition in the conditions of the development of the Digital Single Market is aimed simultaneously at protection of competition and protection of the potential of innovations. Reaching the balance between the interests of all parties to the market relations would promote innovations and keep the market open. The scientific novelty of this research consists in comprehensive examination of the main approaches of the European Commission and the Court of Justice of the European Union towards settling disputes in the area of licensing, as well possible abuse by the copyright holders of their dominant position in the conditions of development of the digital environment. The author’s main contribution lies in comprehensive examination of the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union on Protection of Competition from the perspective of implementation and protection of exclusive rights.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document