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Collective dominance and oligopolies

Collective dominance and oligopolies Competition concerns relating to collective dominance and oligopolies may be dealt with in various ways under EU competition law, namely under: • Article 101 TFEU • Article 102 TFEU, and • the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR). This Practice Note addresses collective dominance and oligopoly issues outside of Article 101 TFEU. The concept of collective dominance has been developed through case law relating to Article 102 TFEU and the EUMR. The case law suggests that this concept is the same under the two provisions, however, there are important differences between the analysis in each context. Collective dominance and Article 102 TFEU Article 102 TFEU prohibits abuses by one or more undertakings of a dominant position (see further, The prohibition on abuse of dominance). EU case law has established that Article 102 TFEU extends to abuses of a dominant position held collectively by multiple undertakings that may not separately hold a dominant position. In order for there to be an abuse of collective dominance in breach of Article...

Introduction to the application of Article 101 TFEU to vertical agreements

Introduction to the application of Article 101 TFEU to vertical agreements This Practice Note refers to the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation, Commission Regulation 2022/720 (VBER 2022) and the Commission’s 2022 Guidelines on Vertical Restraints (2022 Guidelines). What is a vertical agreement? A vertical agreement is an agreement entered into by separate undertakings operating at different levels in the supply chain, for example, a manufacturer and its distributors. A supplier may wish to have one or multiple resellers for its goods or services, through one or more levels of the supply chain, such as an EU or country-specific importer and further resellers operating at the wholesale and retail levels. These activities will all constitute vertical agreements. Vertical agreements are generally agreements between non-competitors. This is in contrast to horizontal agreements, which are agreements between competitors. Vertical agreements can take many different forms. The key types include: (i) agency; (ii) exclusive distribution; (iii) selective distribution; (iv) ‘free’ or non-exclusive distribution; (v) franchising; and (vi) subcontracting. Each of these are discussed in more...