Foundations of European Union Competition Law Objective and Principles of Article 102

• A scholarly, analytical discussion which contributes to the debate on the objectives of EU competition law and Article 102 at a crucial juncture in the development of the law.
• Contains innovative solutions to the problems addressed, which challenge fundamental assumptions and thus contribute to moving the debate and scholarly research in new directions.
• Detailed analysis of individual types of abuse, which gives comprehensive coverage of Article 82 case law and enforcement practice.
• Establishes a intellectually robust and practically workable analytical framework for abuse of dominance which is consistent with the key principles developed in the case law and the teleological interpretation of Article 102 within the overall framework of the EU Treaties.
• Clarifies and develops legal tests for exclusionary, exploitative, and discriminatory abuses in light of the relevant economic insights from the neoclassical foundations of competition law to post-Chicago game-theoretic analysis.
• Extensive critical review of the case law, Commission practice, and literature, which will inform both academics and practitioners.

Article 102 TFEU prohibits the abuse of a dominant position as incompatible with the internal market. Its application in practice has been controversial with goals as diverse as the preservation of an undistorted competitive process, the protection of economic freedom, the maximisation of consumer welfare, social welfare, or economic efficiency all cited as possible or desirable objectives. These conflicting aims have raised complex questions as to how abuses can be assessed and how a dominant position should be defined.

This book addresses the conceptual problems underlying the tests to be applied under Article 102 in light of the objectives of EU competition law. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the book covers all the main issues relating to Article 102, including its objectives, its relationship with other principles and provisions of EU law, the criteria for the assessment of individual abusive practices, and the definition of dominance. It provides an in-depth doctrinal and normative commentary of the case law with the aim of establishing an intellectually robust and practically workable analytical framework for abuse of dominance.

Readership: Academics and postgraduate students, Practitioners (both lawyers and economists), competition officials, and policy makers