Category Archives: A

Actual competitor

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Actual competitor

Actual competitor in the European Union Law

Concept of Actual competitor provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Firm which is either currently active on the same relevant market as the company under investigation, or which is able to switch produc-tion to the relevant products and market them in the short term without incurring significant additional costs or risks in response to a small and permanent increase in relative prices (immediate supply-side substitutability).

(See: Commission notice on the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of Community competition law (OJ C 372, 9.12.1997, p. 5).)

Advisory committee

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Advisory committee

Advisory committee in the European Union Law

Concept of Advisory committee provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Committee composed of representatives of the Member States which is consulted by the Commission in antitrust and merger cases where such a consultation is foreseen. A preliminary draft decision by the Commission is submitted to, and discussed with, the advisory committee in question. The advisory committee issues an opinion, which shall be taken into account in the final Commission decision.

(See: Article 10 of Regulation No 17 and Article 19 of the merger regulation.)

Absolute territorial protection

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Absolute territorial protection

Absolute territorial protection in the European Union Law

Concept of Absolute territorial protection provided by the “< policy" (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Practice by manufacturers or suppliers, relating to the resale of their products and leading to a separation of markets or territories. Under absolute territorial protection, a single distributor obtains the rights from a manufacturer to market a product in a certain territory, and other distributors are prohibited from selling actively or passively into this territory.

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  • Passive sales
  • Hard-core restrictions

AKZO procedure

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AKZO procedure

AKZO procedure in the European Union Law

Concept of AKZO procedure provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Procedural rule established by the European Court of Justice which has also been inserted into the mandate of the hearing officer and which concerns the disclosure of confidential documents or business information by the Commission. This rule says that where the Commission intends to disclose information while the company providing it wants this information to be treated as commercially sensitive (business secret or other confidential information), the Commission shall inform that company in writing of its intention and the reasons for it. Where the company concerned still objects to the disclosure of such information, but the Commission finds that the information is not protected and may therefore be disclosed, that finding shall be stated in a reasoned decision. This decision has to be notified to the company concerned, which must be given the oppor-tunity to bring its case before the European Court of First Instance with a view to having the Commission's assessments reviewed. The information may not be disclosed before one week after the decision has been notified.

(See: Judgment of the European Court of Justice of 24 June 1986 in Case 53/85 AKZO Chemie BV and AKZO Chemie UK Ltd v Commission, [1986] ECR, p. 1965, paragraph 29; Article 9 of Commission decision of 23 May 2001 on the terms of reference of hearing officers in certain competition proceedings (OJ L 162, 19.6.2001, p. 21).)

Agreements

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Agreements

Europe agreements in the European Union Law

Concept of Europe agreements provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Europe agreements are bilateral association agreements that have been concluded between the European Communities and their Member States on the one hand and each of the following countries of central and eastern Europe: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Europe agreements recognise the fact that the ultimate objective of the associated countries is to accede to the European Union. Their purpose is to help the associated countries achieve that objective. Europe agreements include the establishment of a political dialogue, the creation of a free trade area, a commitment by the associated countries to approximate their legislation with that of the Community, as well as economic, cultural and financial cooperation. In trade between the Community and the associated country, competition disciplines similar to those of the EC Treaty apply.

Access

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Access

Access to the Commission's file in the European Union Law

Concept of Access to the Commission's file provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Right of natural or legal persons who are parties to a Commission investigation to see the Commission's file, whenever the Commission proposes to adopt a decision which would be unfavourable to those parties. Access is given during the course of the administrative proce-dure to all the documents in the case concerned, with the exception of internal Commission documents, business secrets of other compa-nies and other confidential information. Access to the file is thus one of the principal procedural guarantees intended to protect the rights of defence of the parties.

(See: Article 18(3) of the merger regulation; Articles 6 and 13(1) of Regulation No 2842/98 on the hearing of parties in certain proceedings under Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty; Commission notice on the internal rules of procedure for processing requests for access to file (OJ C 23, 23.1.1997, p. 3).)

Resources

See also

  • Hearing officer

Active sales

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Active sales

Active sales in the European Union Law

Concept of Active sales provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Sales made by actively approaching individual customers inside another distributor's exclusive territory or exclusive customer group. This may be, for instance, by direct mail or visits; by actively approach-ing a specific customer group or customers in a specific territory allo-cated exclusively to another distributor through advertisement in the media or other promotions specifically targeted at that customer group or customers in that territory; or by establishing a warehouse or distribution outlet in another distributor's exclusive territory. Clauses limiting a distributor's right to sell actively into another distributor's territory are usually part of exclusive distribution networks and can benefit from the block exemption for vertical agreements.

(See: Commission Regulation 2790/99 on the application of Article 81(3) of the Treaty to categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices (OJ L 336, 22.12.1999); guidelines on vertical restraints (OJ C 291, 13.10.2000).)

Resources

See also

  • Passive sales

Ancillary restraints

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Ancillary restraints

Ancillary restraints in the European Union Law

Concept of Ancillary restraints provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Restrictions on the parties to an agreement (including an agreement to form a concentration), which do not constitute the primary object of the agreement, but are directly related to and necessary for the proper functioning of the objectives envisaged by agreement. In the field of cooperation agreements, an example would be an obligation within an () R & D agreement not to carry out, independently or together with third parties, research and development in the field to which the agreement relates. An example of a restraint ancillary to a concentration is a non-competition clause imposed by the buyer on the vendor for a transitional period of time.

(See: Articles 6(1)b and 8(2) of the merger regulation; Commission notice on restrictions directly related and necessary to concentrations (OJ C 188, 4.7.2001, p. 5).)

Antitrust

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Antitrust

Antitrust in the European Union Law

Concept of Antitrust provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Field of competition law and policy. In the EU context, both the rules governing anti-competitive agreements and practices (cartels and other forms of collusion) based on Article 81 of the EC Treaty and the rules prohibiting abuses of (existing) dominant positions based on Article 82 of the EC Treaty, are commonly referred to as 'antitrust'.

Abuse of a dominant position

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Abuse of a dominant position

Abuse of a dominant position in the European Union Law

Concept of Abuse of a dominant position provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Anti-competitive business practices (including improper exploitation of customers or exclusion of competitors) which a dominant firm may use in order to maintain or increase its position in the market. Competition law prohibits such behaviour, as it damages true compe-tition between firms, exploits consumers, and makes it unnecessary for the dominant undertaking to compete with other firms on merit. Article 82 of the EC Treaty lists some examples of abuse, namely unfair pricing, restriction of production output and imposing discriminatory or unnecessary terms in dealings with trading partners.

Resources

See also

  • Dominant position
  • Tying