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

A product or a service is defined by its objective features, its properties, price, production conditions or standards and its image. Those characteristics are not assessed by themselves but in relation to the actual behavior of consumers . Products that meet different needs belong to distinct markets .
The degree of interchangeability for products with identical usage is measured with regard to t …

Nature of product or service

A product or a service is defined by its objective features, its properties, price, production conditions or standards and its image. Those characteristics are not assessed by themselves but in relation to the actual behavior of consumers . Products that meet different needs belong to distinct markets .

The degree of interchangeability for products with identical usage is measured with regard to the objective features of the products in question . The format, reproduction quality, ease of handling and the range of accessories , the level of cover offered , the length, type of body and power, especially engine power , speed, robustness and sorting , or stocking and delivery capabilities and ancillary services  constitute objective qualities that make it possible to define the relevant market.

Technical characteristics are not always sufficient to conclude that two products belong to the same market. When there is a sufficiently strong link between the products for them to be considered complementary, they can belong to the same market despite their differences. Such is the case for the markets for the collection and sorting of used sales packaging for private consumers, insofar as the two services are inseparable, despite the fact that each service requires a different infrastructure . Such decisions remain quite exceptional however and competition authorities generally tend to distinguish as many markets as there are products, even when the products are intended to meet the same needs . So, the fact that liquid food products require their own methods of packaging and machinery , that vaccinations are meant for different uses , that ice cream retail requires possession of a freezer provided free-of-charge by the supplier , is enough to identify distinct product markets. Further, despite the card issuing activity belonging to the two-sided payment systems market, issuing and acquiring  services differ and target distinct customer-bases . Effectively, on a two-sided market, one of the sides may be the relevant market and the other a separate related market with the interaction between them constituting only a contextual element to be taken into consideration for the analysis of the anticompetitive effects on the relevant market . Likewise, the Commission may not decide that the luxury and prestige watch market and the market for their spare parts are the same market without showing that a moderate increase in the price of spare parts by a specific producer would lead the demand to switch to other watch producers and render such an increase unprofitable . 

Price is one of a product's essential features . The difference in price makes it possible to distinguish the national roaming mobile market from the international roaming mobile market .

The production technique used may also be a factor for identifying the market . Such is the case with the market for ice cream where individual ice creams, which are finished products that require technology and know-how, are distinguished from ice cream in tubs, which are semi-finished products that do not acquire their own characteristics until they are divided into portions . Similarly, the market for the collection and sorting of used sales packaging for private consumers differs from that for the collection of industrial and commercial waste, where collection depends on different logistical requirements and because the recoverable packaging is not the same . However, different production techniques can only suffice to distinguish two relevant markets if they are crucial to the consumer .

The product's brand image or its reputation also makes it possible in certain cases to identify a separate market . A manufacturer's investment in terms of advertising and quality of distribution may give its products an aura of exclusivity and prestige that makes them different from comparable products . Thus, luxury cosmetic products , broadcasting rights for football matches  or medium format single lens reflex cameras  constitute specific markets due to their image and reputation.

Finally, the existence of regulatory barriers to entry to the market of a product or a service is a criterion used for defining the market concerned. This is true for the railway services market, which characterizes a distinct sub-market within railway transport due to its specific regulatory framework , or for the wholesale market for national roaming access for communication services, for which a license is required .

Commission Decision No 98/531/EC of 11 March 1998, Van den Bergh Foods Limited, LawLex200400002932JBJ; No 1999/329/EC of 12 April 1999, P & I Clubs, IGA - P & I Clubs, Pooling Agreement, LawLex200400002958JBJ; No 2001/837/EC of 19 September 2001, Hofmann, LawLex200500004674JBJ; No 2006/895/EC of 16 May 2004, Souris-Topps, LawLex200700000391JBJ.

See Case T-25/95 Cimenteries CBR (SA) v Commission [2000] ECR II-491, LawLex200400003586JBJ.

Commission Decision No 88/501/EEC of 26 July 1988, Tetra Pak I (BTG licence), LawLex200400002944JBJ.

Commission Decision No 94/770/EC of 6 October 1994, Pasteur Mérieux-Merck, LawLex200500004793JBJ.

Case T-65/98 Van den Bergh Foods v Commission [2003] ECR II-4653, LawLex200400003524JBJ.

Case T-491/07 Groupement des cartes bancaires "CB", Judgment of 29 November 2012, and on referral T-491/07 Groupement des cartes bancaires, Judgment of 30 June 2016, neither are available in English.

Case T-491/07 Groupement des cartes bancaires, Judgment of 30 June 2016, not available in English.

Case T-427/08 CEAHR v Commission [2010], LawLex201000001461JBJ.

Commission Decision No 98/531/EC of 11 March 1998, Van den Bergh Foods Limited, LawLex200400002932JBJ, which distinguishes the market for ice creams intended for immediate consumption sold in individual packaging from that of other ice creams.

Commission Decision No 2004/207/EC of 16 July 2003, T-Mobile Deutschland/O2 Germany: Network Sharing, LawLex200500004534JBJ.

Commission Decision No 93/405/EC, Schöller Lebensmittel GmbH Co. KG, LawLex200500004818JBJ and No 93/406/EC of 23 December 1992, Langnese-Iglo GmbH, LawLex200500004811JBJ.

Case T-9/93 and T-7/93 Schöller v Commission [1995] ECR II-1611, LawLex200400003649JBJ.

Commission Decision No 2001/837/EC of 17 September 2001, Hofmann, LawLex200500004674JBJ.

Case T-9/93 Schöller v Commission [1995] ECR II-1611, LawLex200400003649JBJ; Commission Decision No 2001/837/EC of 17 September 2001, Hofmann, LawLex200500004674JBJ.

Commission Decision No 92/33/EEC of 16 December 1991, Yves Saint Laurent Parfums, LawLex200500005352JBJ; No 92/428/EEC of 24 July 1992, Parfums Givenchy system of selective distribution, LawLex200500004686JBJ.

For an example of combined distinguishing criteria, see: Case 86/82 Hasselblad v Commission [1984] ECR 883, LawLex200500005391JBJ.

Commission Decision No 2001/478/EC of 19 April 2001, UEFA's broadcasting regulations, LawLex200400002641JBJ. 

Case 86/82 Hasselblad v Commission [1984] ECR 883, LawLex200500005391JBJ.

Commission Decision No 94/210/EC of 29 March 1994, HOV SVZ/MCN, LawLex200400002666JBJ; Case T-229/94 Deutsche Bahn v Commission [1997] ECR II-1689, LawLex200400002924JBJ; Case C-436/97 P Deutsche Bahn v Commission [1999] ECR I-2387 LawLex200400002964JBJ.

Commission Decision No 2003/570/EC of 30 April 2003, O2 UK Limited / T-Mobile UK Limited ("UK Network Sharing Agreement"), LawLex200500004518JBJ; No 2004/207/EC of 16 July 2003, T-Mobile Deutschland/O2 Germany: Network Sharing, LawLex200500004534JBJ.

Case 86/82 Hasselblad v Commission [1984] ECR 883, LawLex200500005391JBJ, relative to reflex cameras.

Commission Decision No 1999/329/EC of 12 April 1999, P & I Clubs, IGA - P & I Clubs, Pooling Agreement, LawLex200400002958JBJ: insurance.

Commission Decision No 2002/758/EC of 10 October 2001, Mercedes-Benz, LawLex200400003553JBJ, in the motor vehicle sector.

Commission Decision No 88/88/EEC of 22 December 1987, Olivetti/Canon, LawLex200400002448JBJ.

Cases T-5/00 and T-6/00 DEP Nederlandse Federatieve Vereniging voor de Groothandel op Elektrotechnisch Gebied v Commission [2003] ECR II-5761, LawLex200500004837JBJ, which distinguishes the market of wholesale distribution from other distribution channels.

Commission Decision No 2001/837/EC of 19 September 2001, Hofmann, LawLex200500004674JBJ.

Case T-504/93 Tiercé Ladbroke v Commission [1997] ECR II-923, LawLex200400002919JBJ: the market for sound and images is ancillary to the betting market. 

European Competition Law

33. Nature of product or service

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33. Nature of product or service

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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