Global Competition Law is primarly a practitioner's guide presenting the most salient aspects of the major competition laws country by country, giving an overview of their structure and most charasteristic elements.
Global Competition Law also provides insight into possible future developments in the field.

Global Competition Law

Article 15 of the LPC prohibits agreements, decisions and concerted practices which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition. In particular, the Act prohibits agreements aimed at fixing prices, allocating markets, limiting output, applying different conditions to equivalent transactions and subjecting the conclusion of contracts to supplementary oblig …

The prohibition

Article 15 of the LPC prohibits agreements, decisions and concerted practices which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition. In particular, the Act prohibits agreements aimed at fixing prices, allocating markets, limiting output, applying different conditions to equivalent transactions and subjecting the conclusion of contracts to supplementary obligations unrelated to the main purpose of the contract (tying).

  Further, pursuant to Article 15(2), any agreements and decisions referred to in paragraph 1 of the same Article are considered void.

  Contracts that have a de minimis effect on competition are expressly excluded from the prohibition in Article 15 of the LPC. The de minimis threshold is said to apply where the aggregate market share of the undertakings entering into the agreement does not exceed ten percent of the relevant market, where the participants are competitors and fifteen percent of any of the relevant markets, where the participants are not competitors (Article 16 (2) of the LPC).

Upon notification, individual exemptions from the prohibition in Article 15 of the LPC may be granted pursuant to Article 17 of the LPC on the grounds that the agreement, decision or practice contributes to improving the production of goods, the provision of services, technical or economic progress, or competitiveness on external markets. At the same time, as under EU law, the agreement, decision or practice must also allow consumers a fair share of the resulting benefit, not impose inessential restrictions and not afford the possibility of eliminating competition on a substantial part of the relevant market.

  The Commission also has the authority to adopt decisions establishing categories of agreements that may benefit from a block exemption. For example, on 10 April 2001 the Commission adopted a block exemption decision (Decision No 44) exempting certain categories of agreements from the Article 15 prohibition, as long as they satisfy the requirements laid down in Article 17 of the LPC. This decision closely parallels the provisions of then applicable EU Commission Regulation No 2790/1999 on vertical restraints [now replaced by Regulation No 330/2010]. Two other block exemption decisions have been adopted on specialization agreements and on R&D agreements (Decisions No 118 and No 119 of 8 July 2003).

Global Competition Law

62. The prohibition

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Les notions juridiques connexes

62. The prohibition

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise