| Author (Person) | McLauchlin, Anna |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.11, No.45, 15.12.05 |
| Publication Date | 15/12/2005 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Anna McLauchlin Date: 15/12/05 The European Commission has weakened plans to peg competition law tackling dominant market players more closely to the effects on consumers, sources say. The plans will be published on Monday (19 December). In an informal discussion paper circulated in June to stakeholders, including national competition regulators, the Commission championed the idea of modifying the way it targets abuses of dominant positions, which are outlawed under Article 82 of the EC Treaty, to give a more economics-oriented approach, looking at how measures would affect the market, rather than depending on definitions of market dominance. Competition authorities could allow certain practices, for example, if a dominant firm could argue that they were ultimately leading to benefits for consumers. Such an approach would bring the traditionally more formulaic EU rules closer to US policy. But after consultation, sources say that the rules have been widened so as not to preclude the EU's traditional formula. "While the Commission has been courageous in moving towards the economics-based approach, it's still not sufficiently clear that the old rules are no longer in there," said Christian Ahlborn, a partner at Linklaters in London. "In trying to bridge the gap between all member states it was inevitable that it would end up being more wishy-washy about what constitutes abuse." Ahlborn also criticised the Commission's decision to make companies responsible for proving that the benefits of their practices outweigh the harm done to competition. "It is very difficult to quantify these issues and therefore satisfy the criteria, in which case we just go back to the original rules." Damien Geradin from US law firm Howrey said that, while helpful for private parties, the rules were unlikely to change the status quo for the time being, as European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law took precedence. "The ECJ needs to be given the opportunity, which it must seize, to revisit its case law," he said. "Then this paper could be used to guide a decision." But Geradin added that: "Certainly anything is better than the rules that they follow at the moment." In the paper, the Commission has tightened the application of rules for rebates and bundling, which are two of the three main types of market abuse. Bundling was one of the issues in the high-profile Microsoft case which last year resulted in the record fine of _497 million for the computer giant. The executive has also widened the scope of what constitutes harmful competition. The publication of the paper on Monday will kick off a public consultation in which stakeholders will be able to give their views on the Commission's plans. But an official said that no decision had been taken on whether they will be incorporated into official guidelines. "It's an open question," he said. Preview of European Commission proposals issued 19 December 2005 on the abuse of dominant positions. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Internal Markets |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
