EC competition law: Text, cases and materials

Book abstract:

This book serves as both a textbook and a coursebook, offering the reader a text which explains the main EC rules and traces their development while incorporating extracts from relevant legislation, cases and a broad range of other literature. The material is written by the European Commission, lawyers, economists (both academics and practitioners) and competition officials. The book includes developments up to November 2000 including the Commission's adoption of a draft Regulation in September 2000 as a follow-up to its White paper on modernisation.

There are seventeen chapters in the book. The first seven chapters focus on the background to competition law and the treaty provisions which govern it. This includes specific chapters on Articles 81 and 82. Chapter eight focuses specifically on the state and public undertakings which is governed by Article 86. There are then five chapters on specific areas of competition law: distribution agreements, intellectual property rights, cartels and oligopoly, mergers, and joint ventures and other beneficial horizontal arrangements. The enforcement of competition law by the European Commission is examined in chapter fourteen and this is followed by an analysis of enforcement at the national level and the relationship between EC and national competition law in chapter fifteen. The White Paper on Modernisation is the specific focus of chapter sixteen while the final chapter looks at how far the jurisdiction of the EC competition authorities reaches, with specific reference to the United States.

This book will prove a valuable resource for undergraduates doing modules in EC competition or business law and postgraduate law students studying EC competition law. Practitioners and academics in the field of EC competition law may also find the book useful.

Alison Jones is lecturer in law at King's College, London. Brenda Sufrin is Reader in law at the University of Bristol.