| Author (Person) | Glader, Marcus |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| Series Title | European Competition Journal |
| Series Details | Volume 6, Number 3, Pages 611-648 |
| Publication Date | September 2010 |
| ISSN | 1744-1056 |
| Content Type | Journal Article |
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Introduction: "This paper analyses the concept of “open standards” from a public policy and competition law perspective, addressing two interrelated policy developments:
First, the European Commission (the “Commission”) is modernising the EU ICT (International and Communication Technologies) standardisation policy. One of the aims is to reduce the dependence on the formal European Standards Organisations (ESOs) and to put increased reliance on standards emerging from “non-formal” fora and consortia. In that context, the Commission has proposed a list of “attributes”, many of which relate to open and transparent standards-setting procedures and the availability of resulting standards, which these organisations and the individual standards must respect in order to qualify for inclusion in EU policies, legislation and procurement.
Second, the Commission is updating its guidance on the application of competition law to standards setting. Competition authorities and courts in both the US and the EU have traditionally been lenient in the application of competition law to co-operation regarding standards. To ensure that standards do not foreclose markets or otherwise restrict competition, however, competition law requirements often apply to the processes by which standards are adopted and the conditions under which they are made available for implementation. Recent high-profile cases show that industry standards can create difficult problems and have made industry standards a priority area for competition policy and enforcement. In May 2010 the Commission published new draft horizontal co-operation guidelines which reflect these recent experiences (“Draft
2010 Horizontal Guidelines”)."
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source https://doi.org/10.5235/174410510794499799 |
| Subject Categories | Internal Markets |
| Subject Tags | Competition Law | Policy |
