European competition law: a practitioner’s guide, 2nd ed.

Book abstract:

Many important changes in legislation and enforcement emphasis in EC competition law have occurred since the first edition of this book was published in 1991. These changes include the amendment of the merger control regulation, the harmonisation and simplification of regulation, the harmonisation and simplification of the procedural rules, the liberalisation of hitherto monopolised markets, the coordinated application of the competition rules by the Commission, national authorities and national courts, and a reappraisal of how to deal with vertical restraints in the Commission's Green Paper, the Council's first response, and finally the Commission's White Paper on Modernisation of the Rules Implementing Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty. There are also new challenges posed for the competition rules by the enlargement of the Community, monetary union, the new tasks attributed by the Maastricht and the Amsterdam Treaty, the progressing integration of national markets, the globalisation of the economy and increasing international cooperation among antitrust authorities.

This second edition, brought up date to September 1999, aims to inform practitioners and researchers about how the EC competition rules are currently being applied in order to render advice to firms whose agreements, transactions and conduct in the market place are governed by such rules. All the chapters have been updated and fundamentally revised, and the authors have tried to conform the text part with the Council's decision to renumber the articles of the EC Treaty while preserving the original numbering for those who are used to it.

Chapters cover: Fundamentals of EC competition law; Article 81 - general principles; Permitted, prohibited and exemptible forms of horizontal cooperation between actual or potential competitors; Vertical restraints of competition in distribution and purchasing agreements; Article 82 - abuse of dominant position; Mergers, joint ventures and shareholdings; Industrial property rights and EC law; Application of Articles 81 and 82 in special sectors; Government-induced distortions of competition; and Enforcement and procedure. There is also a comprehensive list of appendices giving extracts from various relevant treaties and the text of regulations on R&D agreements, vertical and license agreements, mergers and the procedure of the Commission.