European Competition Law provides a wide-ranging review of the European rules relating to competition: restrictive agreements, abuse of a dominant position, impact of intellectual property rights, procedure, merger control, State aid.

European Competition Law

The harmonious development of business throughout the Union is one of the objectives of the Treaty that the establishment of a system of undistorted competition is intended to guarantee. The rules of competition apply to economic activities, although no definition of that term is given. An economic activity, according to the case law, is anything that can be the subject of trade. It covers all production, distribution and service activities. Thus, national football associations - which according to the statutes of FIFA, are required to participate in competitions organized by it and must pay back to it a percentage of the gross receipts for each international match and are recognized as being holders of exclusive broadcasting and transmission rights for the sporting events in question - carry out an economic activity . This is also the case for the activity of football players' agents which consists in introducing for a fee and on a regular basis a player to a club with a view to employment or introducing two clubs to one another with a view to concluding a transfer contract  or for a private body which issues certificates in return for remuneration on the basis of actual market demand without having any power to make decisions connected with the exercise of public powers . Despite the particular features specific to the construction sector, the association of undertakings which publishes recommendations intended to regulate the offer of basic products, engages in an economic activity liable to fall within the scope of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU . In any event, the fact that an association of undertakings has no influence on the economic activity of its members does not preclude it from the scope of application of Article 101 TFEU where the market on which the association itself carries out an economic activity is affected .  

Case T-193-02 Piau, Judgment of 26 January 2005, LawLex200500006260JBJ. See also Case C-519-04 P Meca-Medina, Judgment of July 18 2006, LawLex200600002432JBJ, who points out that the exclusively sporting nature of a regulation does not exempt it from competition rules. See also. Case C-124/21 P International Skating Union, Judgment of 21 December 2023, LawLex202400004583JBJ: The arbitration rules imposed by a sports association, which cover, in particular, two types of dispute likely to arise in the context of economic activities, consisting, on the one hand, of organizing and marketing international competitions and, on the other, of participating, as a professional athlete, in such competitions, apply to disputes concerning the exercise of sport as an economic activity and, as such, fall within the scope of EU competition law.

Case T-193/02 Piau v Commission [2005] ECR II-209, LawLex200500006260JBJ. 

Case C-327/12 Ministero dello Sviluppo economico, Judgment of 12 Decembrer 2013, LawLex201300001798JBJ.

Commission Decision No 92/204/EEC of 5 February 1992, Building and construction industry in the Netherlands, LawLex200500003836JBJ.

Case C-327-12C-1/12 Ordem dos Técnicos Oficiais de Contas, LawLex201300000240JBJ.

22. Production, distribution and service activities