The Downhill Trend in Commitment Mechanism of EU Competition Law: Empirical evidence
Abstract
The European Commission has been given the authority to make commitments of undertakings in question binding with Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003. As a consequence of this reform, there has been a significant increase in commitment decisions compared to prohibition decisions over time, but prohibition decisions are currently predominant again. This study attempts to discuss this downward trend in commitment decisions taken in EU competition law between the years 2004 and 2020 through reviewing from a legal point of view and statistically examining the case law. Although the increase in commitment decisions is deemed beneficial in practical terms, it has increased legal uncertainties in the long run. This is because the provision of effective competition is left to negotiations to be reached between the undertakings and the Commission, instead of a thorough application of competition law rules in a uniform and consistent manner. In this context, discussions and recommendations are presented concerning under which circumstances commitment decisions are more appropriate to make.
Keywords
EU Competition Law , Commitment Decisions , Policy evaluation
Kaynakça
- Botteman, Yves and Patsa, Agapi (2013), “Towards a More Sustainable Use of Commitment Decisions in Article 102 TFEU Cases”, Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, 1(2), p. 347-74.
- Case T-30/89, Hilti AG v. Commission [1991] E.C.R II-1445.
- Commission Decision of 22 February 2006 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 82 of the EC Treaty and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/B-2/38.381 — De Beers), C(2006) 521.
- Commission Decision of 6.3.2013 addressed to Microsoft Corporation relating to a proceeding on the imposition of a fine pursuant to Article 23(2)(c) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 for failure to comply with a commitment made binding by a Commission decision pursuant to Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003.
- Commission Decision of 7.12.2018 relating to a proceeding under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement Case AT.40461 – DE/DK Interconnector, C(2018) 8132 final.
- Commission Decision of 27.6.2017 relating to proceedings under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 54 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (AT.39740 - Google Search (Shopping)), C(2017) 4444 final.
- Commission Decision of 18.7.2018 relating to a proceeding under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (the Treaty) and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement (AT.40099 – Google Android), C(2018) 4761 final.
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty (Text with EEA relevance) OJ L 1, 4.1.2003, p. 1–25 Article 23
- Dunne, Niamh (2014), “Commitment Decisions in EU Competition Law”, Journal of Competition Law and Economics, 10(2), p. 399-444.
- European Commission (2013), “Antitrust: Commission fines Microsoft for non-compliance with browser choice commitments”, IP/13/196.