Dealing with dominance. The experience of national competition authorities

Abstract:

Competition Law is an increasingly important area of economic law and market dominance, be it by monopoly power or market share, exercises the minds of regulators across the globe. This work offers an opportunity to consider the experiences of a collection of countries both within and outside the EU. It arises from work commissioned by the Dutch Competition Authority in 2001.

The contents are compiled mainly from the response of locally based contributors to a common set of questions, complemented by views on the successes or failures of the national authorities. The questionnaire posed sixteen questions of which the following are a small selection:
- What is the definition of a dominant position? Is it the same as or similar to the definition of a dominant Position developed by the CoJEC?
- What categories of abuse of dominant position are distinguished?
- What role is played by objective justifications for abusive behaviour?
- Is the concept of a collective dominant position known in national competition law?
- Can you mention any examples or particularities with respect to the application of the general concept of abuse of a dominant position in relation to liberalised sectors (i.e. not in the form of specific legislation)
- Do regulatory authorities in liberalised sectors apply the concept of abuse of dominant position other than on the basis of the sector-specific legislation?

The countries covered in the exercise are Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Ireland, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and the USA.

The book offers a useful reference tool for the application of the national counterparts to Article 82 EC in Europe and beyond. It will be welcomed by practitioners in national and international competition law.

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