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

Under Section 5 of the Competition Act, agreements between undertakings which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition are prohibited, including agreements which:
1) directly or indirectly impose prices of certain goods or other conditions of purchase or sale;
2) share markets on a territorial basis, according to groups of suppliers or buyers or in an …

The prohibition

Under Section 5 of the Competition Act, agreements between undertakings which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition are prohibited, including agreements which:

1) directly or indirectly impose prices of certain goods or other conditions of purchase or sale;

2) share markets on a territorial basis, according to groups of suppliers or buyers or in any other way;

3) fix production or sale volumes for certain goods, as well as restrict technical development or investment;

4) apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with individual undertakings, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage;

5) subject the conclusion of contracts to the other parties' acceptance of supplementary obligations which, according to their commercial nature or purpose have no direct connection with the subject of the contract.

The wording of the Section is very similar to the wording of Article 101 TFEU. Agreements listed in subparagraphs (1) to (4) will always be regarded as restricting competition when concluded between competitors (Section 5 (2)).

Resolution of the Competition Council No 1 of 13 January 2000 as amended by Resolution No 1S-172 of 9 December 2004 sets out market share thresholds below which agreements, because of their de minimis effect, are not judged as in breach of the Competition Act. Under the terms of the Resolution, the Section 5 prohibition will not apply where the aggregate share of the relevant market held by the undertakings does not exceed 10% for horizontal and mixed agreements and where the individual market shares of the undertakings does not exceed 15% for vertical agreements.

In case the restrictive effect is caused by the cumulative impact of agreements imposing similar restrictions upon competition, the Section 5 prohibition will not apply where the relevant market shares do not exceed 5%.

The de minimis rules do not apply to hard-core restrictions.

Section 6 provides for individual exemptions with respect to agreements prohibited pursuant to Section 5. The Competition Act only provides for exemptions to apply to agreements that have beneficial effects, i.e. where such agreements promote technical or economic progress, or improve the production or distribution of goods, with substantial benefits for consumers. In assessing whether agreements may be considered exempt, the authorities should also require that the agreement: imposes no restrictions on the activities of the contracting parties which are not necessary for reaching the purported objectives, and does not afford the contracting parties the possibility to restrict competition on a large share of the relevant market.

  Agreements complying with the conditions set forth above are effective from the moment of their conclusion without any prior decision by the Competition Council. In case of a dispute concerning the compliance with these conditions, the burden of proof rests upon the party to the agreement benefiting from the exemption.

  The Competition Council also has the right to pass regulations and define groups of agreements as well as conditions under which the agreements shall be deemed to be in compliance with the conditions of Section 6.

  By its Resolution No 1S-132 of 2 September 2004, the Competition Council established that agreements satisfying the conditions laid down by the European Council and Commission for the granting of a block exemption should be considered as satisfying the conditions of Section 6 of the Competition Act and repealed all the existing regulations granting block exemptions. Since then, the various European Union block exemption regulations apply to internal agreements. However, when applying the conditions provided by EU law, amounts of annual turnover in euros are reduced by ten times.

Global Competition Law

474. The prohibition

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Les notions juridiques connexes

474. The prohibition

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise