Concerted practices in EC competition law

Abstract

Chapter 1 deals with the problem of defining the context within which concerted practices in EC Competition law should be analysed. In this regard one finds that in this case concerted practices should be analysed within the broader context of EC oligopoly control. Chapter 2 deals with the concept of concerted practices in US antitrust jurisprudence given that the concept of concerted practices in EU competition law is borrowed from US antitrust jurisprudence. In this case one finds that US law considers concerted practices under the broad concept of 'conspiracy' under the Sherman Act Article 1. Chapter 3 deals entirely with the definition of a concerted practice in EC Competition law. One finds that the trend in EC competition law was to devise a legal test which was narrower than that construed in US law. This is witnessed by the fact that an attempt was made to distinguish concerted practices from agreements, but this was eventually abandoned to incorporate a test which when applied in practice converges with the US concept of conspiracy. Chapter 4 deals with the problem of evidence of concerted practices in EC competition law. In this case one finds that the elements of circumstantial evidence employed in EC competition law to prove concerted practices are broader than those employed in US anti-trust jurisprudence.