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

The prohibition on restrictive agreements of Section 6(1) corresponds to the prohibition in Section 101 TFEU. Agreements between undertakings, decisions of associations of undertakings or concerted practices between undertakings that have as a direct or indirect object or effect the restriction of competition are prohibited. Such agreements are considered void ab initio and are thus unenforceable  …

The prohibition

The prohibition on restrictive agreements of Section 6(1) corresponds to the prohibition in Section 101 TFEU. Agreements between undertakings, decisions of associations of undertakings or concerted practices between undertakings that have as a direct or indirect object or effect the restriction of competition are prohibited. Such agreements are considered void ab initio and are thus unenforceable between the parties or with regard to third parties. A non-exhaustive list of prohibited agreements is set forth in Section 6(2), including price fixing, market sharing, discrimination etc. Section 6 applies to joint ventures which coordinate the behavior of the participating undertakings.

Section 7 formerly states that the prohibition set out in Section 6 did not apply to pricing agreements. Thus, the competition authorities did not apply it to resale prices. Since a 2002 amendment, the general prohibition of Section 6 has applied to both the sale and the resale of goods or services and covers resale price maintenance.

Section 7(1) which provides an exception for agreements of minor importance was amended in 2018 to reflect the rules laid down at the European level. Henceforth an horizontal agreement is minor where the combined market share held by the parties does not exceed 10% on any of the relevant markets affected by the agreement. A vertical agreement may also fall outside the prohibition where the market share held by each of the parties does not exceed 15% on any of the relevant markets affected by the agreement. This exception does not, however, apply to agreements having an anticompetitive object or to cases where multiple agreements cumulatively restrict competition within an economic sector. 

In October 2018, the Competition Council published a revised version of its guidelines on joint bidding consortia which aimed at providing more clarity for undertakings which consider entering into such agreements.

An individual exemption from the prohibition on restrictive agreements can be granted pursuant to Section 8. Alternatively, a non-intervention statement may be issued relative to restrictive agreements (Section 9). However, individual exemption or a non-intervention statement may be denied where the agreement, decision or concerted practice may appreciably affect trade between the Member States of the European Union. Applications for exemption should be notified to the Competition Council. In determining whether to exempt an agreement, the Competition Council considers the criteria in Section 8, which parallel the criteria in Section 101 of the TFEU.

The Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs has authority to issue regulations regarding block exemptions (Section 10(1)). Several block exemptions were enacted in Denmark that parallel the EU block exemptions, including exemptions regarding vertical agreements and concerted practices, agreements in the insurance sector, research and development agreements, motor vehicle servicing and distribution agreements, specialization agreements and technology transfer agreements. An additional exemption in Denmark, which is not based on an EU block exemption, covers cooperative agreements in the area of retail trade. The Competition Council has issued guidelines regarding the block exemption of cooperation agreements in the retail trade and guidelines concerning all other group exemption regulations.

Global Competition Law

171. The prohibition

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Les notions juridiques connexes

171. The prohibition

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise