A volume that takes stock and looks ahead on the development and implementation of competition policy in the European Union fifty years after the Treaty of Rome. Competition policy has emerged as a key policy in the EU with competition acting as the driving force for economic efficiency and the welfare of citizens. Case law has been established to control and prevent anti-competitve behavior, state aid control has consolidated and evolved towards a more economic approach, and the authority of the EC and the judicial review of the Court of the First Instance (CFI) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) are firmly etsablished. The book provides an economic approach to competition policy and reflects the main areas of interest, open issues and progress in the area. The volume examines the design of competition policy institutions, the evolution of the implementation of competition policy and its convergence or divergence with US practice, restrictive practices, cartels, abuse of dominance, merger control and state aids. The volume also analyses the interaction of competition policy and regulation, and studies its application to telecoms, banking and energy sectors. All chapters are written by leadfing specialists combining theoretical with practical knowledge and discussing the underpinings of the application of law.
Author(s): Xavier Vives
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 304
Contents......Page 8
List of Figures......Page 12
List of Tables......Page 14
Abbreviations......Page 15
List of Contributors......Page 19
1.1. The Treaty of Rome......Page 20
1.2. An Overview and Summary of the Contributions......Page 21
1.3. Concluding Remarks......Page 36
2.1. Introduction......Page 40
2.2. How to Design a Modern Competition Policy and Enforcement System......Page 42
2.3. Modernization of the Legal Instruments......Page 43
2.4. Resource and Change Management inside Directorate-General Competition......Page 49
2.5. Reforming the Structures......Page 53
2.6. Reforming the Processes......Page 55
2.7. Current Management Challenges......Page 57
2.8. Resources......Page 58
2.9. Conclusion......Page 60
3.1. Introduction......Page 62
3.2. A Brief Overview of Article 81......Page 64
3.3. The Goal(s) of Article 81......Page 76
3.4. The Concept of 'Restriction of Competition'......Page 79
3.5. Article 81: Structured Rule of Reason or Quasi per se Rule?......Page 81
3.6. Conclusions......Page 84
4.1. Introduction......Page 90
4.2. Dominance......Page 91
4.3. Some Economics of Anticompetitive Exclusion......Page 93
4.4. Predatory Pricing......Page 100
4.5. Discounts and Rebates......Page 103
4.6. Refusal to Supply, Tying, and Bundling......Page 105
4.7. Article 82: The Future......Page 111
5.1. Introduction......Page 114
5.2. Economic Analysis of Collusion......Page 115
5.3. Cartels in the European Union: Law and Practice......Page 124
5.4. A Brief Summary......Page 147
6.1. Introduction......Page 154
6.2. Historical Context......Page 156
6.3. Merger Appraisal and Interventions......Page 168
6.4. Merger Policy Evaluation......Page 182
6.5. Conclusions......Page 187
7.1. Introduction......Page 195
7.2. Why Should State Aid be Prohibited?......Page 196
7.3. When Can State Aid be Beneficial?......Page 205
7.4. The Limits of Economic Analysis......Page 209
7.5. Past Enforcement and the Current Overhaul......Page 213
8.1. Introduction......Page 222
8.2. Comparative Advantages and Disadvantages of Competition Policy and Sector-specific Regulation......Page 229
8.3. How Should the Line be Drawn between the Regulated and Unregulated Parts of a Network Industry?......Page 239
8.4. On the Coexistence of Competition Policy and Sector-specific Regulation......Page 247
9.1. Introduction......Page 255
9.2. The Liberalization Process up to 2003: Introducing Competition......Page 256
9.3. Regulation in a Converging Environment......Page 270
9.4. Conclusion......Page 275
10.1. Introduction......Page 279
10.2. Regulation in the Banking Sector: Rationale and Instruments......Page 281
10.3. Competition in the Banking Sector......Page 282
10.4. Competition and Stability: A Real Trade-off?......Page 284
10.5. Competition Policy in the Banking Sector in the European Union......Page 285
10.6. The Application of Competition Policy to the Banking Sector in the European Union......Page 287
10.7. Integration and Liberalization in the Financial Industry in Europe: Recent Developments......Page 299
10.8. Concluding Remarks......Page 301
11.1. Introduction......Page 303
11.2. Obstacles to Competition in the Energy Sector......Page 304
11.3. Moves towards Deregulation......Page 306
11.4. The First Directives......Page 309
11.5. The Second Directives......Page 312
11.6. Agreements between Firms......Page 313
11.7. Merger Policy......Page 315
11.8. The Impact of Liberalization......Page 318
11.9. The Sector Inquiry of 2005–7......Page 325
11.10. Conclusions......Page 329
12.1. Introduction......Page 333
12.2. Why does Convergence or Divergence between the EU and US Systems Matter?......Page 336
12.3. Similarities and Dissimilarities in the Substance of EU and US Competition Policy......Page 340
12.4. Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces......Page 345
12.5. A Suggested Agenda for the Future: Concepts and Means......Page 352
12.6. Conclusion: Future International Relationships......Page 359
Bibliography......Page 363
Cases Cited......Page 381
European Directives......Page 383
A......Page 386
C......Page 387
E......Page 389
G......Page 390
J......Page 391
M......Page 392
N......Page 393
R......Page 394
S......Page 395
U......Page 396
Z......Page 397
