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 EU authorities rely on a set of objective criteria when defining the geographic market concerned.
One criterion is the nature of the product or service. Thus, the forty-one Spanish airports are only interchangeable to a limited extent, in particular due to the distance between them with each one therefore being regarded as constituting a distinct geographic market . Likewise, piloting services …

Criteria

The EU authorities rely on a set of objective criteria when defining the geographic market concerned.

One criterion is the nature of the product or service. Thus, the forty-one Spanish airports are only interchangeable to a limited extent, in particular due to the distance between them with each one therefore being regarded as constituting a distinct geographic market . Likewise, piloting services in the port of Genoa represent in themselves a specific market . The capacity to guarantee technical support at short notice in case of technical failure could be used to define the regional market for railway traction services . Generally, transport costs are the essential factor for spatial delineation of the market as they restrict the ability to sell beyond a certain geographic radius, particularly in the case of cumbersome goods or those of a low intrinsic value . The greater their absolute or relative value compared to the price of the product, the higher the market power of the undertaking . Even where transport costs do not stand in the way of the distribution of a product, they are factors making the relevant market a single market that must be taken into consideration for its geographic delineation .

Location of the operators and customers of the undertaking in question also plays an important part in delineating the geographic area concerned. Thus, the ancillary market in sound and pictures is the national territory insofar as the conditions in which the principal betting market operates are characterized by close geographic links between bettors and betting outlets present at the level of the Member State . On the contrary, the market for client PC operating systems, work group server operating systems and media players is worldwide due to the location of operators and customers since these systems are manufactured by a large number of companies that operate on a world-wide scale and are sold worldwide .

Lastly, the definition of the geographic market also takes into consideration the existence of regulatory national  or EU  barriers.

Taking a broad approach, the competition authorities underline that the geographic market must conform to the area in which, for economic operators, objective conditions of competition for the product or service are “similar” or “sufficiently homogeneous” . Homogeneity exists from the supply side where, in a defined area, the characteristics of products, the administrative regulation, the offerors and the degree of maturity of the market are identical or the volume of exchanges and level of substitutability of supply are high. As for the demand, the competition authorities consider in particular consumer behavior, the organization of distribution, the structure of the demand, supply policies and level of imports. The fact that there is no difference in prices between products within a given geographic area is regarded as an essential indication of the homogeneity of that area .

In some cases the EU authorities will include a socio-psychological assessment in order to better evaluate the inelasticity characterizing a given market. Thus, consumers' language and cultural preferences , local customs and users' consumption habits , such as a preference for certain packaging or cigarette brands , may constitute factors defining the geographic market.

Commission Decision No 1999/199/EC of 10 February 1999, Portuguese airports, LawLex200400002956JBJ, Portuguese airports; 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-179/90 Merci Convenzionali Porto di Genova v Siderurgica Gabrielli [1991] ECR I-5889, LawLex200400002910JBJ; Case C-18/93 Corsica Ferries v Corpo dei piloti del porto di Genova [1994] ECR I-1783, LawLex200400002882JBJ.

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, EC regulation having consolidated the former national sugar markets.

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.

See for example Commission Decision No 2007/53/EC of 24 March 2004, Microsoft, LawLex200500004763JBJ, which considers that in view of the worldwide nature of the market for PC operating systems, language does not constitute an obstacle for swift supply on a global basis.

Case T-83/91 Tetra Pak v Commission [1994] ECR II-755, LawLex200400002887JBJ: particular patterns of consumption cannot by themselves constitute evidence of the existence of a national market if they have no effect on the conditions of competition between manufacturers, which are the same throughout the Community.

Case T-139/98 AAMS v Commission [2001] ECR II-3413 LawLex200400003030JBJ, on preferences of Italian smokers compared to those of smokers in other Member States.

Commission Decision No 2004/33/EC of 27 August 2003, GVG/FS, LawLex200500004540JBJ.

Case T-83/91 Tetra Pak v Commission [1994] ECR II-755, LawLex200400002887JBJ: the geographical market covers the entire territory of the European Union given the marginal nature of the transport costs of aseptic machines and cartons intended for the packaging of liquid foods.

See Commission Decision No 92/163/EC of 24 July 1991, Tetra Pak II, LawLex200400002911JBJ and Case T-83/91 Tetra Pak v Commission [1994] ECR II-755, LawLex200400002887JBJ, for the market of aseptic cartons; see also, Commission Decision No 89/93/EC of 7 December 1988, Flat glass, LawLex200400002933JBJ: flat glass market is a national market as the transport cost has an influence on the competitiveness of the product in case flat glass is marketed beyond national frontiers; Cases 40/73 through 48/73, 50/73, 54/73 through 56/73, 111/73, 113/73, 114/73 Suiker Unie and others v Commission [1975] ECR 1663, LawLex200400002777JBJ: the sugar market is characterized by the effect of transport costs on the price of sugar that excludes long distance transport; Commission Decision No 89/22/EEC of 5 December 1988, BPB Industries plc, LawLex200400002938JBJ: the costs of shipping plasterboard are very high and therefore the British and Irish markets constitute two distinct geographic markets; Commission Decision No M.1663/EC of 14 March 2000, Alcan/Alusuisse, LawLex200500004481JBJ, costs of transport of flame retardant ATH restrict the scope of the market to EEA as customers of ATH require just-in-time deliveries and its high water content excludes transportation over long distances.

Case T-65/96 Kish Glass v Commission [2000] ECR II-1885, LawLex200400002973JBJ.

Case T-504/93 Tiercé Ladbroke v Commission [1997] ECR II-923, LawLex200400002919JBJ; Case T-139/98 AAMS v Commission [2001] ECR II-3413 LawLex200400003030JBJ; Case T-219/99 British Airways v Commission [2003] ECR II-5917, LawLex200500004555JBJ, on the market of travel agency services; also, Commission Decision No 2002/180/EC of 5 December 2001, De Post - La Poste, LawLex200400003031JBJ, regarding 'business to business' post services.

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

Commission Decision No 2001/463/EC of 20 April 2001, Der Grüne Punkt - Duales System Deutschland (AG), LawLex200400002640JBJ, the waste disposal market is nationwide due to national laws that are still very different from one Member State to another; No 38/233/EC of 16 July 2003, Wanadoo Interactive, LawLex200600000015JBJ, on the submission of high-speed internet access provider to the laws of the Member States.

European Competition Law

147. Criteria

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

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147. Criteria

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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