Regulating cartels in Europe. A study of legal control of corporate delinquency

Abstract:

This work is part of the series Oxford Studies in European Law, which focuses on works that are of interest to academic scholars as well as policy makers and practitioners, primarily in law but in many cases in other disciplines too.

The book is organised over ten chapters following a comprehensive introduction. The first chapter looks at the background and the different perceptions as to the level of criminality that cartels carry, and the economic environment that may encourage their development. Those differing perceptions lead to differing models of legal control and this is the focus of chapter two. The German experience and its importance in the development and toleration of cartels in Europe through the period 1870 to 1945 is discussed in chapter three. The post-war attitude to cartels changed significantly - they were much associated with the totalitarian governance in Germany, Italy and Japan and suffered the same political backlash. This and the influence of the emerging European Community are addressed in chapter four, which covers Europe 1945-1970. The period from 1970 to the present is explored in chapter five, and the growing influence of EC regulation continues to be discussed in chapter six which addresses the provision of evidence and proof of cartel delinquency. Evidence and proof open the doors to the Courts and their role and that of judicial review are covered in chapter seven. The difficulties encountered in enforcement spawned new strategies in the control of cartels involving leniency in deals leading to breaking the code of silence. This aspect is dealt with in chapter eight. The pattern of increasing regulation, which leads inevitably to the matter of remedies and how to deal with the 'guilty' by appropriate sanctions, is explored in chapter nine. The changed response to cartel regulation over the last century now places cartel activity firmly in the criminal dock at an international level and chapter ten explores cartel law in the twenty-first century.

The book will interest academic scholars as well as policy makers and practitioners engaged in competition law.

Christopher Harding is Professor of Law at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Julian Joshua is a Partner at Howrey Simon Arnold & White LLP.