A comparison of merger control in the EU and the USA focusing on efficiency defence and failing company defence This paper compares the interpretation of efficiency defence and failing company defence in horizontal mergers in the EU and the USA. The arguments for each were first introduced in the decisional practice of US antitrust authorities and then included in the Merger Guidelines. Over the years both types of defence have been used in US antitrust law. Harsh criticism of the prohibition of several mergers at the beginning of the 21st century led to the reform of European merger control. Among other things, the reforms introduced efficiency defence and failing company defence. Given the complexity of competition law and the many factors that influence it, several background issues must first be analyzed, such as basic economic theories of competition law, the economic grounds for mergers and the political background. After comparing the relevant written law, the case law regarding efficiency defence and failing company defence in both jurisdictions is described. In this way the developments of the doctrines are clearly visible. Subsequently the current situation is described by comparing the requirements set by written law and their interpretation by decisional practice. It was found that the...

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Cette étude a pour objet de comprendre la nature de l’utilisation de la rémunération du travail par les dirigeants d’entreprises. L’analyse de cet élément du contrat de travail à l’aune du droit de la concurrence et du droit du travail révèle qu’il est devenu un outil stratégique utilisé à des fins purement concurrentielles. Les exemples les plus probants étant ceux de la désorganisation de l’entreprise rivale ou du dumping social. Ce dernier connaît un essor préoccupant au sein de l’Union européenne engendrant une véritable course au « moins-disant social », au détriment des salariés et de l’efficience du marché intérieur. Nonobstant cette prééminence du droit de la concurrence, le droit du travail a su imposer aux chefs d’entreprises des limites en leur rappelant le caractère essentiel que revêt la rémunération et toute l’importance qu’il y a de lui conférer une protection spécifique. Ce rééquilibrage permet alors de relativiser la primauté du droit économique. Il doit désormais être encouragé grâce à l’adoption de mesures davantage contraignantes. Cette étude en contient plusieurs. D’une part, la création d’un corps d’inspecteurs du travail spécialisés dans la lutte contre la fraude aux détachements qui disposeraient de moyens logistiques et de sanction adaptés à la particularité de ce processus. D’autre part, une définition juridique du dumping social est proposée ainsi qu’une procédure de pénalisation de ce comportement. L’ensemble de ces préconisations tend in fine, à l’émergence d’une conciliation interdisciplinaire renouvelée et équilibrée dont profiteraient tant les salariés que leurs employeurs. / This study aims to comprehend the nature of the use of labor remuneration by business leaders. The analysis of this element of the employment contract in terms of competition law and labor law reveals that it has become a strategic tool used for purely competitive reasons. The most obvious examples are those of the disorganization of the rival company or social dumping. This fact has been a worrying rise in the EU causing a race to the social lowest bidder at the expense of employees and efficiency of the internal market. Notwithstanding, this pre-eminence rule of competition law, labor law has successfully set limits for entrepreneurs reminding them the crucial nature of the remuneration and all the importance to give it a specific protection. Rebalances then permit to put into perspective the primacy of economic law. It now needs to be encouraged through the adoption of more constraining measures. In this study several measures are suggested. First, the creation of a labor inspectorate specialized in the fight of detachment fraud who would have logistics and sanctions means adapted to the peculiarity of this process. Additionally, based on the given definition of social dumping, to implement a penalization procedure for this behavior. All these recommendations tend ultimately to the emergence of a renewed and balanced interdisciplinary coalition that would benefit both employees and their employers.

This diploma thesis summarizes the development of protection of competition in the Czech Republic in the comparison with EU Competition Law. I focused on undertaking concentrations, one of the three fundamental pillars of a competition protection. The description of last tendencies in the EU law explains its current values that are typical for Czech law system nowadays. First two chapters include analysis of harmonization of Czech and European competition law in the area of control of concentrations between undertakings. I tried to find solution of problems joined with the harmonization based on the opinions of Czech law specialist in the next chapter. The closing part of the thesis focuses on the last novelization in September 2009. There are also critique and recommendation included in the last chapter.

La théorie des vices du consentement offre une protection générique des contractants contre tout risque d'altération du consentement. Constatant son insuffisance, les droits de la consommation et de la concurrence ont, pour leur part, choisi d'adopter un ensemble de règles spécifiques visant à protéger, d'une part, les consommateurs et d'autre part, les professionnels en situation de faiblesse, contre ces mêmes risques. Au sein du droit de la consommation, cela s'est fait sous l'impulsion du droit européen, la directive du 11 mai 2005 relative aux pratiques commerciales déloyales ayant largement dicté le contenu des dispositions protectrices aujourd'hui applicables aux consommateurs. Ainsi, le Titre II du Livre Ier du Code de la consommation, consacré aux pratiques commerciales, comprend un Chapitre préliminaire consacré aux pratiques commerciales déloyales, suivi d'un Chapitre Ier, dont la Section 1 traite des pratiques commerciales trompeuses, puis d'un Chapitre II, dont la Section 5 traite des pratiques commerciales agressives. Le droit de la concurrence a, quant à lui, recouru spontanément à cette option. Son Livre IV comprend ainsi un Titre IV, dont le Chapitre II est relatif à la prohibition des pratiques restrictives de concurrence. Celles-ci, prohibées per se, n'ont a priori pas de lien apparent avec la théorie des vices du consentement. Pourtant, à y regarder de plus près, certaines d'entre elles s'attachent, de manière très indirecte, à rééquilibrer l'équilibre des forces en présence au stade de la négociation d'un contrat de distribution entre professionnels. Celles-ci vont en effet s'attacher à prohiber les comportements de certains professionnels qui, disposant d'un avantage économique certain, pourraient être tentés d'en jouer afin d'obtenir de leurs partenaires contractuels, économiquement dépendants, des avantages contractuels injustifiés. Ce faisant, c'est bien le consentement de ces derniers qui se trouve être préservé.En développant une telle législation, les droits spéciaux se sont écartés de leurs finalités réciproques. Ainsi, s'il est vrai que le droit de la consommation offre un ensemble de dispositions visant à prévenir la survenance de vices du consentement – approche inédite au sein de la théorie des vices du consentement de droit commun, qui ne s'attache qu'à réprimer les abus ayant effectivement altéré le consentement des contractants –, il propose également une abondance de dispositions curatives à la maniabilité souvent délicate. Leur compréhension ainsi que leur mise en œuvre nécessite donc une certaine habileté, au point de mettre en péril l'effectivité de la protection qu'elles visent à garantir. Quant au droit de la concurrence, le développement de dispositions visant à prohiber per se des comportements susceptibles de ne nuire qu'aux intérêts particuliers des professionnels en situation de faiblesse et non à l'ensemble du marché tend manifestement à détourner la matière de sa finalité première.Remédier à de telles constatations implique d'envisager la possibilité de délester les droits spéciaux d'une partie des dispositions légales visant à protéger le consentement des contractants y étant soumis, au profit de la théorie des vices du consentement. Une telle solution conduirait à recentrer les droits de la consommation et de la concurrence autour de leurs finalités respectives que sont, pour l'un, la protection des intérêts personnels des consommateurs et, pour l'autre, la protection du marché. Encore faudrait-il que les contractants, aujourd'hui protégés par ces dispositions spéciales, ne voient pas la qualité de leur protection diminuer. S'en assurer nécessitera de déterminer la nature des améliorations que devra subir la théorie des vices du consentement afin de pouvoir assimiler une part du contentieux de droit spécial. Ces améliorations, inspirées par l'étude des droits spéciaux, pourront ainsi bénéficier à l'ensemble des contractants soumis au droit commun. / The theory of the defect of consent offers a generic protection of the contracting party against all risk of consent modification. Having noticed its inadequacy, the laws of consumerism and competition have chosen to adopt a set of specific rules aiming to protect on one hand the consumer, and on the other hand the professional, both in a weak negotiating position, against these same risks. Within the consumerism law, this has been achieved under the European Rights impetus. The 11 May 2005 directive concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices has largely dictated the content of the protective measures nowadays applicable to customers. In the same way, the Second Title of the First Book of Consumer Code, dedicated to commercial practices, consists of a preliminary chapter establishing the unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices. It follows by the 1st chapter, where the 1st section deals with misleading commercial practices, whilst the 2nd chapter, 5th section deals with aggressive commercial practices. Hence the competition law has resorted spontaneously to this option. Fourth Book includes fourth Chapter, where the second Chapter relates to the ban of competitive restrictive practices. These ones, forbidden per se, apparently have no link to this theory of the defect of consent. However, if we look closer, some of them have indirectly the aim to balance present forces at the negotiation stage via a distribution contract between professionals. In fact some will be keen to ban certain professional's behavior that, having a certain economical advantage, could be tempted to play in such a way so as to acquire unjustified contractual advantages from contractual partners, economically dependent. In doing so, the latter would need to have their consent protected.By developing such legislation, special laws have distanced themselves from their mutual purpose. Thus, if it is true that the consumerism law offers a set of rules aiming to prevent any defect of consent should it arise, it equally proposes a multitude of preventive rules but of a delicate maneuver – this being an original approach within the theory of defect of consent of common law, trying to repress the abuse effectively altering the contractual consent. Their comprehension as well as the putting it into practice would require a certain skill, to the point of risking the protection effectiveness that it aims to provide. As to the competition law, a set of rules aiming to forbid per se sensitive behavior, it would endanger only particular interests of professionals in a weak negotiating position, and not the whole market, manifestly tending to divert the matter from its initial result.To find a solution to these observations would imply to take into account the possibility of cutting off special rights of certain legal rules aiming to protect contractual consent they are under the obligation of, in favor of the theory of defect of consent. Such solution would lead to re-focusing on consumer and competition laws around their respective result, which are on one hand the protection of consumer's personal interests, and on the other hand market protection. It would then mean that the contracting party, sheltered by special rules, would not see their protection level diminish. To be re-assured there's the need to determine the nature of the improvements the theory of defect of consent would require, so as to include a part of the litigation of special law. The latter, inspired by a study of special law, could then benefit of the whole contractual under the common law.

The aim of this paper is to analyze criminal liability for breaching competition law. The main part of this thesis is dedicated to criminalization of cartels in the Czech Republic analysis which uses comparison to other jurisdictions such as USA and EU because it is trying to answer the question whether criminalization of uncompetitive conduct in the Czech Republic has a potential to become an efficient mechanism for fighting cartels in particular. And this criminalization has a positive effect on other competition law enforcement systems. The first chapter is dedicated to the explanation of basic terms related to the competition and competition law. Second chapter explains what cartel agreements are and what types of public and private enforcement exists to fight them. Also it points out to the trend of cartel criminalization. Third chapter analyzes cartel enforcement in USA as a model country in this area of law. Chapter number four looks into the EU legislation since it applies to the Czech Republic. Also it looks at individual member states steps towards fighting cartels. The last chapter dealing with cartel agreement analyzes the Czech Republic's legislation. This analysis is supported by previously acquired knowledge of US and EU legislations which is used to make comparisons. Final chapter continues with the analysis of Czech legislation however this time with unfair competition in order to provide a complete picture of criminal liability when breaching the competition law.

The submitted work concerns itself with the topic of protection of consumers and their welfare as an objective of the EU competition policy, as well as with the regulation of EU competition law and the way in which this objective has changed over time, both in fact and in legal perception. The first, theoretical, part of this thesis explains concepts essential for this analysis - the concept of "consumer" and its specifics in the context of the EU competition law, the definition of "consumer welfare" and the general relationship between consumer protection law and competition law. The second part deals with the historical development of consumer protection as an objective of EU competition policy. Particular attention is paid to the progress made in understanding the importance of this objective over time. An emphasis is placed on it in the political declarations of the Commission's representatives and subsequently, whether and how these political declarations and efforts were reflected in the actually adopted documents of competition law. This section therefore analyses the processes that formed the ideological basis for consumer protection under competition law and how they were reflected in formal sources of law. Although, at the doctrinal and political level, the parameter of consumer protection and...

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Liberal theory and practice of competition law Abstract The presented thesis focuses on the matter of competition law from the point of view of selected schools of economic thought. The goal of the thesis is to provide a comprehensive insight into the content and nature of legal norms in the field of competition law and offer a comparison of views of specific traditions of economic theory on the selected bodies of legislation in force. The wider objective of the thesis is to explore the application possibilities of the findings of various economic theories to legal phenomena, with the thesis exploring both the anglo-american branch of economic analysis of law and heterodox approaches, that originate from the continental economic theory and jurisprudence. To this end, the thesis picks three distinct schools of economic thought, that are commonly labeled as liberal, these being the Austrian, Chicago and Freiburg school of economics, each having different methodology, theoretical and analytical conclusions and prescriptive suggestions. Bodies of legislation in force selected for the purposes of this thesis are competition law statutes of the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and the EU. The Structure of the thesis applies the "from general to specific" method of explanation, i.e. introductory...

Yes / The Microsoft Case is a battle between Microsoft, the global software giant, and the European Commission. The Commission found Microsoft to be in breach of Arti-cle 82 of the EC Treaty because of their refusal to sup-ply interoperability information in the Work Group Server (WGS) market and tying in Windows Media Player (WMP) with Windows. Microsoft appealed to the Euro-pean Court of First Instance (CFI) where they lost their nine year battle on 17 September 2007. Microsoft will not be appealing the decision1. The case is a modern day David and Goliath with the Commission coming out the champion. This edition of Law in Brief will look at the main outcomes of the decision and its likely impact in particularly on future clashes of competition law and intellectual property law within the European Union (EU).