@WavesBlog: 23 Nov 2017

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Blocking the AT&T-Time Warner merger is good antitrust economics and law

S. Salop, here.

WIE DAS EU-PARLAMENT UNSERE PRIVATSPHÄRE SCHÜTZEN WILL

Fink, hier.

CJEU on commitment decisions

C‑547/16, here.

28 It follows that a decision taken on the basis of Article 9(1) of Regulation No 1/2003 cannot create a legitimate expectation in respect of the undertakings concerned as to whether their conduct complies with Article 101 TFEU. As the Advocate General observed in point 39 of her Opinion, the commitment decision cannot ‘legalise’ the market behaviour of the undertaking concerned, and certainly not retroactively.

29 Nonetheless, national courts cannot overlook that type of decision. Such acts are, in any event, in the nature of a decision. In addition, both the principle of sincere cooperation laid down in Article 4(3) TEU and the objective of applying EU competition law effectively and uniformly require the national court to take into account the preliminary assessment carried out by the Commission and regard it as an indication, if not prima facie evidence, of the anticompetitive nature of the agreement at issue in the light of Article 101(1) TFEU.

30 In those circumstances, the answer to the first question is that Article 16(1) of Regulation No 1/2003 must be interpreted as meaning that a commitment decision concerning certain agreements between undertakings, adopted by the Commission under Article 9(1) of that regulation, does not preclude national courts from examining whether those agreements comply with the competition rules and, if necessary, declaring those agreements void pursuant to Article 101(2) TFEU.