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 supervisory authorities consider that the definition of the market should entail a concrete and objective assessment of the choices made by purchasers . The characteristics of a product aside, consumer behavior determines the limits of a market . A product market can be characterized from the existence of a specific, constant and regular potential demand from consumers . Thus, bananas constitu …

Globalization or specification of the market

The supervisory authorities consider that the definition of the market should entail a concrete and objective assessment of the choices made by purchasers . The characteristics of a product aside, consumer behavior determines the limits of a market . A product market can be characterized from the existence of a specific, constant and regular potential demand from consumers . Thus, bananas constitute a relevant market since they form an essential part of the diet of the very old, the sick and the very young . Products having similar objective characteristics may belong to distinct markets because they correspond to different uses . Competition authorities less frequently consider that technically different products might belong to the same market due to their mere use .

The conditions of use can enable the grouping together of different product families produced within a same market or to define groups of users at a same level of the economic process . Thus the grouping together of complementary products within the same market may be justified by the economies of scope generated. An undertaking makes economies of scope where the combined offer of several goods or services is less costly than offering them separately. On the other hand, new tyres and retreaded tyres are not substitutable in terms of use, as hauliers systematically avoid fitting retreaded tyres to the front of their tractor units or to trucks carrying dangerous goods, to avoid any incident on the journey that might delay delivery . Each form of milk packaging is a distinct market because consumers do not consider the various types of milk as substitutable and do not equally use each packaging . The same goes for each air route insofar as time-sensitive passengers, who are not prepared to take the extra time required to make stops on their journeys and connect to other flights, would rather take direct flights from their nearest airport to their destination airport . Similarly, there is a primary market for printers, which is distinct from the secondary market of ink cartridges of the same brand. The competition authorities however do not find the existence of a dominant position by the manufacturers on the secondary market: horizontal competition on the primary market would, under certain conditions, regulate the secondary markets and exclude any dominant position on them. This would only be possible where the primary and secondary markets are closely linked which depends on four conditions, “first of all, consumers are able to make an informed choice including during the lifecycle of machines: secondly, that it is likely that they would make such an informed choice when purchasing, thirdly, that, when it appears that a policy of exploitation is being pursued on the secondary markets, a sufficient number of consumers would adapt their purchasing behavior on the primary market accordingly, and, fourthly, they would do so within a reasonable time” .

Commission Notice No C/2024/1645 of 8 February 2024, pt. 50.

See Case T/69/89, RTE v Commission [1991] ECR II-485, LawLex200400002913JBJ; confirmed by Cases C/241/91 P and C/242/91 P RTE and ITP v Commission [1995] ECR I-743, LawLex200400002891JBJ: the Court retains the market for weekly television guides published in TV magazines as opposed to the more general market of information on TV programs since only knowledge of the aggregate programs for the week ahead enables users to arrange their leisure activities; See also Case T/504/93 Tiercé Ladbroke v Commission [1997] ECR II-923, LawLex200400002919JBJ.

Case C-56/12 P European Federation of Ink and Ink Cartridge Manufacturers, Judgment of 19 September 2013, not available in English.

Cases C/241/91 P and C/242/91 P RTE and ITP v Commission [1995] ECR I-743, LawLex200400002891JBJ; Case C/333/94 Tetra Pak v Commission [1996] ECR I-5951, LawLex200400002897JBJ.

Commission Decision No 76/353/EC of 17 December 1975, Chiquita, LawLex200400002387JBJ; Case 27/76 United Brands v Commission [1978] ECR 207, LawLex200400002980JBJ.

As to principle, see Case 6/72 Europemballage Corporation and Continental Can Company v Commission [1973] ECR 215, LawLex200400002771JBJ; Commission Decision No 98/531/EC of 11 March 1998, Van den Bergh Foods Limited, LawLex200400002932JBJ; Case C/475/99, Ambulanz Glöckner [2001] ECR I-8089, LawLex200400003028JBJ.

See however Case T/9/93 and T/7/93 Schöller v Commission [1995] ECR II-1611, LawLex200400003649JBJ, Contrats Conc. Consom., 1995, No 130.

See Commission Decision No 88/518/EC of 18 July 1988, Napier Brown/British Sugar, LawLex200400002945JBJ; Case T/504/93 Tiercé Ladbroke v Commission [1997] ECR II-923, LawLex200400002919JBJ; Case T/340/03 France Télécom v Commission [2007] ECR II-107, LawLex200700001499JBJ.

Case 322/81 Judgment of 09/11/1983 NV Nederlandsche Banden Industrie Michelin v Commission [1983] ECR 3461, LawLex200400002959JBJ; Commission Decision No 2002/405/EC PO/Michelin of 20 June 2001, Michelin, LawLex200400002645JBJ.

Commission Decision No 88/501/EC of 26 July 1988, Tetra Pak I (BTG licence), LawLex200400002944JBJ and Case T/83/91, Tetra Pak v Commission [1994] ECR II-755, LawLex200400002887JBJ.

Commission Decision No 2000/74/EC of 14 July 1999, Virgin/British Airways, LawLex200400002594JBJ.

European Competition Law

145. Globalization or specification of the market

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145. Globalization or specification of the market

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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