1 / 7

Single Firm Conduct: EU / US convergences and divergences

Single Firm Conduct: EU / US convergences and divergences . Michel Debroux November 28, 2007 Brussels. Who said « divergences » ? …. ".

brooke
Download Presentation

Single Firm Conduct: EU / US convergences and divergences

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Single Firm Conduct: EU / US convergences and divergences Michel Debroux November 28, 2007 Brussels

  2. Who said « divergences » ? … " “We are concerned that the standard applied to unilateral conduct (…) may have the unfortunate consequence of harming consumers by chilling innovation and discouraging competition” " " “In the US, the antitrust laws are enforced to protect consumers by protecting competition, not competitors ..” "

  3. Convergences • In the EU, antitrust enforcement remains primarily a matter of State (or EC) authorities, with limited –although increasing – role of (a) criminal penalties and (b) private damage actions. • But on some major issues, even though enforcement tools, procedures or priorities may differ, there is no divergence on the basic principles : • Cartel enforcement and tools • Horizontal mergers • Need for international cooperation

  4. Single Firm Conduct Approach: Divergences ? • Different legal ground: • EU: « abuse of dominant position » and importance of the achievement of the Single Market • US: Monopolization or Attempted Monopolization

  5. Single Firm Conduct Approach: Divergences ? • Stated similar objective: preventing harm to consumer • But the devil is in the details: how to assess actual or potential harm to consumers? • Which test? • Example: should the ability of a dominant firm to recoup losses be taken into account in the predation test?

  6. Single Firm Conduct Approach: Divergences ? • Innovation and Antitrust • Is the Microsoft ruling an invitation to “chill innovators”? • « Bundling » and « fostering innovation »: the ruling’s lessons

  7. For more information onHogan & Hartson, please visit us at www.hhlaw.com Baltimore Beijing Berlin Boulder Brussels Caracas Colorado Springs Denver Geneva Hong Kong London Los Angeles Miami Moscow Munich New York Northern Virginia Paris Shanghai Tokyo Warsaw Washington, DC

More Related