Is the Consumer Welfare Obsolete? A European Union Competition Law and Competition Perspective

In 2005, the European Commission advocated for a more economic approach to enforcing competition laws. The sole criterion for assessing the lawfulness of a market practice should be the appraisal of its net effect on consumer welfare. The Court of Justice was reluctant to adopt such an approach until its 2017 Intel Judgment. Its endorsement—which is debatable insofar as the judgment may give rise to different interpretations—may appear paradoxical in that it is concomitant with a sharp challenge to the consumer welfare criterion in the United States. The purpose of this article is to retrace the history of this criterion, particularly its adoption in the context of EU competition law. We aim to show that the criticisms of the effects-based approach can be addressed not by moving away from the consumer welfare criterion but by integrating it into a broader perspective that also takes into account the protection of the competition process itself.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Diazinon in g-C3N4/Fe(III)/Persulfate System under Visible LED Light Irradiation

In the past years, the non-conventional treatment of pesticides in wastewater like photocatalytic degradation has been the focus of the attention of researchers to mitigate its impact on both humans and the environment. In this study, synthesized graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) from urea is used in the photocatalytic degradation of diazinon as a photocatalyst with the addition of ferric nitrate (Fe3(NO3)3) and potassium persulfate (K2S2O8) to enhanced degradation. Graphitic carbon nitride was produced using direct calcination of urea at 550°C for 2 h. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized g-C3N4 were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and X-ray Diffractometer (XRD). The photocatalytic degradation of diazinon was conducted under a g-C3N4/Fe(III)/persulfate system using different parameters such as catalyst loading (75, 100, and 125 mg), Fe3(NO3)3 (325, 350, and 375 mg L–1), and K2S2O8 (275, 300, and 325 mg L–1) resulting to an improved photocatalytic degradation efficiency. The physicochemical results showed a synthesized g-C3N4 that exhibits properties that are following the international standards. The results of photocatalytic degradation showed the highest degradation of g-C3N4 at 37.3%, under the parametric conditions of 125 mg g-C3N4, 325 mg L–1 of Fe3(NO3)3, and 300 mg L–1 of K2S2O8. The degradation efficiency was observed to increase as the catalyst load increases, while an increase in degradation efficiency can only be observed up to a certain value using ferric nitrate and persulfate. Overall, this study provided insight on the possible use of urea, as a source of g-C3N4 and the use of g-C3N4 as a photocatalyst using visible light as a more economic approach and cost-efficient way of handling wastewater.

Wettbewerbsrecht und Ökonomie im digitalen 21. Jahrhundert

ZusammenfassungDas Verhältnis von Wettbewerbsrecht und Ökonomie gibt Anlass zu fortwährender Reflektion. Die Europäische Kommission will das Recht gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen mit dem more economic approach stärker an ökonomischen Einzelfallanalysen ausrichten. Ein zentraler Ausdruck dieser Herangehensweise ist der sog. as efficient competitor test, wonach die Wettbewerbsregeln – vereinfacht gesprochen – nur auf solche Verhaltensweisen angewandt werden sollen, die für die Verbraucher ökonomisch nachweisbar schädlich sind. Die Intel-Entscheidung des Europäischen Gerichtshofs hat verdeutlicht, dass das Erzielen ökonomisch richtiger Einzelfallergebnisse über das Wettbewerbsrecht bereits in einer analogen Wirtschaft an Grenzen stoßen kann. Dies gilt umso mehr in der digitalen Ökonomie des 21. Jahrhunderts, schon weil die entsprechenden Geschäftsmodelle wettbewerbstheoretisch noch nicht voll durchdrungen sind. Auf der Grundlage einer juristisch-wertenden Interpretation des Wettbewerbsrechts sind unternehmerische Verhaltensweisen auch dann unzulässig, wenn sie die berechtigten Freiheitspositionen der Marktteilnehmer und die daraus erwachsenden Wettbewerbsprozesse unangemessen beeinträchtigen, ohne dass im konkreten Fall ein ökonomischer Verbraucherschaden nachgewiesen werden muss. Die praktische Bedeutung einer Ausrichtung der Wettbewerbsregeln an rechtlichen Kriterien zeigt sich am Beispiel des Facebook-Falls des Bundeskartellamts, in dem ein Missbrauch von Marktmacht aufgrund eines Verstoßes gegen grundlegende Prinzipien der Rechtsordnung in Rede steht, namentlich gegen das Allgemeine Persönlichkeitsrecht.

The European Court of Justice and the More Economic Approach to EU Competition Law—Is the Tide Turning?

In the late 1990s, the European Commission embarked on a mission to bring EU competition policy more into line with contemporary economic theory. Over a period of ten years, it systematically revised key legal concepts of all three pillars of EU competition law. Most importantly, it adopted the consumer welfare aim, revised its understanding of competitive harm and countervailing effects accordingly, and committed itself to carrying out more in-depth assessments of the investigated conduct’s effects instead of relying on form-based presumptions of illegality. Initially, many tenets of the more economic approach were in conflict with the case law of the European Court of Justice, which had a broader understanding of the aims of EU competition law. However, after a few initial set-backs for the Commission, several recent judgments in cases such as MEO, Intel, Post Danmark I, and Cartes Bancaires suggest that the Court’s understanding of EU competition law is evolving and that it is willing to embrace at least a few of the Commission’s revised principles. In particular, it is adopting a more effects-based approach to assessing business conduct and is cautiously curbing its former concept of harm in exclusionary situations. At the same time, however, it continues to adhere to many of its former freedom- and fairness-based principles, so that a number of uncertainties and inconsistencies remain.