The Senator Lines' case, currently pending before the European Court for Human Rights, reveals a lack of procedural fairness of the European Antitrust enforcement under the terms of the European Convention for Human Rights. But in spite of a well-established concern for Fundamental Rights from the European Community, the later is still not bound by the Convention. / That is why it is critical that the EC accede to the Convention following the example of its branches. Meanwhile, it is necessary to determine whether the Member States could be held responsible for the Community's acts that violate the rights protected by the Convention. That is the question the Court will have to answer in the Senator Lines' case. Nevertheless, the Council Regulation which organises the antitrust enforcement procedure must be reformed in order to ensure an indispensable balance of power.

No description available.

Law / LL.M.

When the European Commission ultimately blocked the merger between American giant General Electrics and Honeywell in July 2001, this decision triggered a firestorm of criticism. Not only had the Commission just stopped a purely American transaction for the first time since the enactment of European Merger Regulation, but it also contradicted its American Counterpart, the US Department of Justice: The Americans had cleared the deal several months earlier. / In spite of constant cooperative efforts during the investigation, the two antitrust agencies could not reach a common position. When scholars and officials tried to find reasons for the divergence between the American and European decisions, they often criticized the Commission's general approach of focusing on competitors rather than on consumers. They further claimed that the Commission had used dubious economic models to block the merger. / This thesis tries to reinstate the reputation of the European Commission as a professional antitrust institution. The criticisms often left the impression that the Task Force of the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission constituted a politically-orientated, rather than economic and legally-orientated, organ. It will be shown that this is actually not the case. / After having analyzed the Commission's decision in detail, and revealing both the strengths and weaknesses of its findings, the thesis will demonstrate that most of the criticisms have to be rejected, and that the Commission had a legal and economic basis in blocking the GE-Honeywell merger.

Law / LL.M.

No description available.