Article 101 TFEU and the EU Courts: Adapting legal form to the realities of modernization?

Publishers Abstract:
The modernization of EU competition law directly invited classic interpretations of Article 101 TFEU to be attuned to the realities of a more economically sound effects-focused assessment framework. More economics-inspired analysis did not however imply the end of formal legal reasoning in EU competition law. In their recent case law, the European Court of Justice and General Court rather developed or restructured particular form-based legal arguments and presumptions into essential supporting instruments for an administrable and effective effects-focused application and enforcement of Article 101 TFEU. This contribution outlines those restructured arguments and presumptions and identifies the newly developing balance between legal form and effects-focused analysis taking shape in that regard.