Understanding appreciability: The European Court of Justice reviews its journey in Expedia

Publishers Abstract:
Expedia v. Autorite de Ia concurrence and Others is a ruling on a preliminary reference from the French Cour de cassation. The Cour de cassation had asked, in essence, whether a national competition authority (NCA) may apply Article 101(1) TFEU to an agreement that does not reach the market share thresholds specified by the Commission in its de minimis notice. The European Court of Justice rules that an NCA may do just that, provided that the agreement appreciably restricts competition. It then clarifies that where an agreement has the object to restrict competition, it constitutes by its nature an appreciable restriction of competition. Article 3(1) of Regulation 1/2003 provides that when NCAs apply national competition law to agreements that may affect trade between Member States, they should also apply Article 101 TFEU.