Ec Antitrust Procedure

This volume provides a concise explanation of how the European Commission investigates infringments of EU competition law. It deals with topics such as the Commission's investigative powers, procedural rights of the parties concerned, and the methods for setting fines and judicial review against Commission decisions.

This book provides a comprehensive account of EU antitrust procedure, exploring the powers of the EU Commission and the observance of fundamental rights during antitrust proceedings, judicial review exercised by the EU Courts, the role played by national authorities and courts and the mechanisms for cooperation in the EU and internationally

This new Sixth Edition of a major work by the well-known competition law team at Van Bael & Bellis in Brussels brings the book up to date to take account of the many developments in the case law and relevant legislation that have occurred since the Fifth Edition in 2010. The authors have also taken the opportunity to write a much-extended chapter on private enforcement and a dedicated section on competition law in the pharmaceutical sector. As one would expect, the new edition continues to meet the challenge for businesses and their counsel, providing a thoroughly practical guide to the application of the EU competition rules. The critical commentary cuts through the theoretical underpinnings of EU competition law to expose its actual impact on business. In this comprehensive new edition, the authors examine such notable developments as the following: important rulings concerning the concept of a restriction by object under Article 101; the extensive case law in the field of cartels, including in relation to cartel facilitation and price signalling; important Article 102 rulings concerning pricing and exclusivity, including the Post Danmark and Intel judgments, as well as standard essential patents; the current block exemption and guidelines applicable to vertical agreements, including those applicable to the motor vehicle sector; developments concerning online distribution, including the Pierre Fabre and Coty rulings; the current guidelines and block exemptions in the field of horizontal cooperation, including the treatment of information exchange; the evolution of EU merger control, including court defeats suffered by the Commission and the case law on procedural infringements; the burgeoning case law related to pharmaceuticals, including concerning reverse payment settlements; the current technology transfer guidelines and block exemption; procedural developments, including in relation to the right to privacy, access to file, parental liability, fining methodology, inability to pay and hybrid settlements; the implementation of the Damages Directive and the first interpretative rulings. As a comprehensive, up-to-date and above all practical analysis of the EU competition rules as developed by the Commission and EU Courts, this authoritative new edition of a classic work stands alone. Like its predecessors, it will be of immeasurable value to both business persons and their legal advisers.

By their nature, remedies are central to competition law enforcement and represent the yardstick against which the efficiency of the overall system can be measured. Yet very rarely have remedies been treated in a horizontal and comprehensive manner from the combined perspectives of substance, process and policy. The present volume, developed in partnership with the College of Europe’s Global Competition Law Centre (GCLC), provides coherent, practical, and authoritative commentaries by leading experts from the GCLC’s incomparable network. The contributions – originally presented at the 2019 GCLC annual conference – examine remedies to assess the overall effectiveness of competition law enforcement in merger, antitrust and State aid matters. The overall topic is presented under five headings: objectives and limitations of remedies; types of remedies in competition law enforcement; implementation and process; ex post assessment of remedies and policy lessons; and national and international approaches. The high-profile and wide-ranging group of authors includes the Director-General of the European Commission’s competition department, lawyers from major international firms, and well-known economists and academics specialising in competition law. With a sharp focus on how to make competition rules work well in today’s digital environment, this systematic and coherent analysis illuminates an issue that we need to fully grasp and understand in order to make sense of competition policy, law and enforcement in the years and decades to come.

. . . Arianna Andreangeli s book can be strongly recommended. Academics and practitioners active in the field of competition law, EU law and human rights will certainly find much of interest in this book. Volker Soyez, European Competition Law Review This book is well structured and well written. . . The volume represents an important contribution to the existing legal literature on fundamental rights protection in the EU legal order from a competition law perspective. Giacomo Di Federico, Common Market Law Review This book discusses the procedural rights enjoyed by those being investigated under Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty and of the Merger Control Regulation, and their right to challenge the Commission s decision in the Community Courts. It further assesses how their rights to due process in competition proceedings before the European Commission comply with the notion of administrative fairness enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, in accordance with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. In this study, Arianna Andreangeli takes into account key developments such as modernisation and its impact on competition proceedings before the Commission, the debate on the principles of legal professional privilege, the protection against self incrimination, the rule of ne bis in idem and the possibility of establishing an EU competition court . It offers an examination of the right to be heard, the right to have access to the Commission-held evidence, and to legal professional privilege, and the right to silence and to seek judicial review of Commission decisions and assess them in the light of the Strasbourg court s case law. Academics active in the area of competition law, EU law and human rights, as well as practitioners active in the area of competition law will find much to interest them in this book.

The EU antitrust enforcement system for several decades has been one of the most mature antitrust enforcement systems in the world. The European Commission has been recognised as a leading antitrust agency internationally, and a role model for enforcers. This would not have been possible without effective procedural rules. This volume provides a comprehensive and practically-oriented account of EU antirust procure. After setting out the institutional design and legal framework of the EU antitrust enforcement system, it explores the EU Commission's investigative powers, the possible outcomes of its investigations, the types of decisions it adopts and the remedies and fines it imposes. This volume looks closely at the rights of defences enjoyed by the investigated parties, and how the EU Commission strike a balance between their full observance on the one hand and the effectiveness of its enforcement on the other. Particular attention is given to the judicial review of the EU Commission's acts and the role of the EU Courts in providing judicial protection and ensuring compliance with fundamental rights and principles. Recognising cooperation as a key feature of the EU antitrust enforcement system, the volume explores the mechanisms for cooperation between national antitrust enforcers and the EU Commission, between national courts and the EU Court of Justice as well as the mechanisms for international cooperation. It also provides an in-depth review of the ECN+ Directive and explains how it contributes to making national competition authorities more effective enforcers. Written primarily with enforcers and practitioners in mind, it is essential reading for anyone with an interest in EU antitrust procedure. EU Antitrust Procedure: Digital Pack includes a digital app with enhanced user functionalities that ensure that you have access to the text and all your accompanying notes wherever you are. The app is available on PC, Mac, Android devices, iPad or iPhone.

Focusing on the rules safeguarding procedural due process in the administrative procedures of the Commission, this fully updated edition of a widely used handbook covers the four principal fields that entail enforcement of substantive competition rules: antitrust, merger, anti-dumping/antisubsidies, and State aid. Among the many practical issues raised are the following: the right of directly involved parties to bring an action before the European Courts in merger, anti-dumping/anti-subsidies, and State-aid cases; the rights of complainants in antitrust cases; the rights and obligations of beneficiaries in State-aid cases; the extent to which the right to confidential communication between lawyer and client in thesecases is recognised by the European Commission and the European Courts; the right to silence to avoid self-incrimination in antitrust cases; the right to respect for confidentiality and the right to be heard during the preliminary factfinding procedure of the Commission; the obligations of an undertaking during the fact-finding procedure of the Commission; the right of access to the Commission's file; the right to a fair hearing of all the parties concerned by the Commission proceedings; and the applicability of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to EU antitrust procedures. Three tables consolidate briefly and comparatively the rights and the obligations of the private parties in the four proceedings, as well as their right to bring an action before the European Courts. These tables give the reader the opportunity to easily check out what is the situation in the four proceedings regarding a specific right or obligation. The author's analysis draws on all the relevant judgments of the European Courts, and the book comes with a wealth of reference material, including detailed footnotes, lists of legislation and cases in both chronological and alphabetical order, and an extensive bibliography.