Excessive Prices, Unfair Prices and Economic Value: The Law of Excessive Pricing Under Article 82 EC and the Chapter II Prohibition

"It is a fundamental tenet of competition law in the European Community (EC) and the UK that monopoly itself is not condemned. In the EC and the UK (and the other member states that have adopted arts 81 and 82 EC as the model for domestic competition law) it is the “abuse” committed by the undertaking in a dominant position that falls to be condemned. However, both Article 82 EC and section 18 of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98) make reference, in the list of potentially abusive conduct, to “directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices”. In a number of cases this rubric has been extended to cover situations in which dominant undertakings have been attacked for charging “excessive prices”."