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

Article 102 TFEU prohibits any abuse of a dominant position within the internal market or in a substantial part of it . The “substantial part” is in fact a very contingent notion: the region of a Member State  or a town or a neighborhood  can be considered as a substantial part of the internal market if they are of economic importance to the internal market as a whole. Theoretically there is no mi …

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Article 102 TFEU prohibits any abuse of a dominant position within the internal market or in a substantial part of it . The “substantial part” is in fact a very contingent notion: the region of a Member State  or a town or a neighborhood  can be considered as a substantial part of the internal market if they are of economic importance to the internal market as a whole. Theoretically there is no minimum geographic scope .

In determining whether a given territory is sufficiently large to be a substantial part of the internal market as defined in Article 102 TFEU, account must be taken in particular of the structure and volume of production and consumption of the product and habits and economic possibilities of sellers and purchasers . For example, a port - in respect of the volume of traffic and its significance in relation to maritime import and export operations as a whole in the Member State concerned , or an airport, in respect of the extent of passenger traffic , constitute specific markets covering a substantial part of the internal market. Evidence of the existence of a dominant position on a substantial part of the internal market sometimes results from national provisions setting forth a contiguous series of monopolies territorially limited but together covering the entire territory of a Member State  or the holding of an exclusive right, such as collection, carriage and delivery of letter post on the territory of a Member State . A stable and non-negligible demand - even of varying intensity depending on the Member States - on the whole territory of the European Union, the possibility of obtaining supplies in other Member States and the low cost of transportation give an EU dimension to the geographic market . Lastly, the market for client PC operating systems, work group server operating systems and media players is worldwide since license agreements are valid worldwide and there is no restriction on imports .

Commission Decision No 76/353/EC of 17 December 1975, Chiquita, LawLex200400002387JBJ.

If sufficiently developed from an economic viewpoint given the density of the population, its level of resources and the significance of its economic power: Joined Cases 40/73 through 48/73; 50/73; 54/73; 55/73; 56/73; 111/73; 113/73; 114/73 Suiker Unie and others v Commission [1975] ECR 1663, LawLex200400002777JBJ.

Commission Decision No 2007/53/EC of 24 March 2004, Microsoft, LawLex200500004763JBJ.

Case C-179/90 Merci Convenzionali Porto di Genova v Siderurgica Gabrielli [1991] ECR I-5889, LawLex200400002910JBJ; Case C-163/96 Criminal proceedings against Raso and others [1998] ECR I-533, LawLex200400002930JBJ.

The fact that an undertaking abuses its dominant position only within a market segment which does not constitute a substantial part of the internal market does not preclude the finding of an infringement, see Case T-325/16 Ceské dráhy, a.s., Judgment of 20 June 2018, LawLex201800001736JBJ, holding moreover that an abusive pratice implemented on the Prague-Ostrava rail route is such as to distort competition, not only on the Prague-Ostrava  route and in the Czech Republic, but, at least indirectly, on the broader scale of Central Europe, particularly in Slovakia, insofar as i) that route is considered to be one of the main routes in the Czech Republic, particularly on account of the fact that there is no direct motorway between Prague and Ostrava, a town situated approximately ten kilometres away from the Polish border and tens of kilometres away from the Slovak border, ii) the competing carriers active on the Prague-Ostrava route also operate in other Member States, in particular the Slovak Republic; and, iii), the Prague-Ostrava route is among the routes operated by competing carriers, particularly to the latter Member State.

Joined Cases 40/73 through 48/73; 50/73; 54/73; 55/73; 56/73; 111/73; 113/73; 114/73 Suiker Unie and others v Commission [1975] ECR 1663, LawLex200400002777JBJ.

Case C-18/93 Corsica Ferries v Corpo dei piloti del porto di Genova [1994] ECR I-1783, LawLex200400002882JBJ and Case C-266/96 Corsica Ferries France v Gruppo Antichi Ormeggiatori del porto di Genova and others, LawLex200400002937JBJ; See also, Case C-163/96 Criminal proceedings against Raso and others [1998] ECR I-533, LawLex200400002930JBJ.

Commission Decisions No 95/364/EC of 28 June 1995, Proceeding pursuant to Article 90 (3) of the Treaty, LawLex200400002504JBJ, No 1999/199/EC of 10 February 1999, Portuguese airports, LawLex200400002956JBJ, No 2000/521/EC of 26 July 2000, PO/AENA, LawLex200400002974JBJ; Case T-128/98 Aéroports de Paris v Commission [2000] ECR II-3929, LawLex200400002977JBJ.

Case C-323/93 Centre d'insémination de la Crespelle v Coopérative de la Mayenne [1994] ECR I-5077, LawLex200400002883JBJ, on the municipal monopoly of livestock artificial insemination centers.

Case C-340/99 TNT Traco [2001] ECR I-4109, LawLex200400003025JBJ.

Case T-83/91 Tetra Pak v Commission [1994] ECR II-755, LawLex200400002887JBJ.

European Competition Law

148. Area

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

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148. Area

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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