The paper investigates the way in which the large football clubs are increasing their dominance, and whether this is compatible with EU competition law.
Various insights from the economic and legal ...literature have been combined to give a new interpretation of EU competition law.
The number of clubs with a realistic chance of winning important prizes has declined in many national markets. As a result, the economic competition has diminished and prices have increased to the detriment of welfare. This development has been reinforced by the joint actions of the top European clubs, such as threatening to start a Super League. Consequently, UEFA has implemented policies that have been particularly helpful for the top clubs. But, the clubs' actions are incompatible with EU competition law, as is the actual creation of a European Super League.
If the EU were to enforce the law, the power of the big clubs would be reduced, and UEFA's policies could be based more on the old democratic principles, again. This would lead to more sporting successes for small clubs and to lower prices for the fans.
The settlement procedure in Slovakia stems from three sources of inspiration: top-to-bottom (European Union law), bottom-up (incentive of an undertaking’s lawyer) and horizontal sources (Czechia). ...After more than ten years of application of this feature of Slovak competition law, there are several cases which were settled. These cases show a certain variety from the point of view of the legal basis, the stage of procedure as well as the character or relevance of the case. This makes it possible to assess their features, practice, effects, and consequences of settlements from the empirical point of view. The present paper analyses the legal framework and practice from a historical point of view. It provides a qualitative overview with evaluation of the settlement procedure in the context of European law and the Slovak legal order as well as a quantitative overview based on data extracted from the decisions of the Slovak NCA (PMÚ) and court rulings. In its conclusions it brings forward fresh suggestions de lege ferenda.
The case commentary examines the recent ruling of the Court of Justice in the Nordzucker case. This judgment is important not only for the new approach to the ne bis in idem principle in competition ...law (which was first established in the Bpost case, issued the same day), but also for the clarification of the concept of “idem” with respect to the territorial effects of the infringement on the territories of two member states. The judgment thus provides guidance for the extraterritorial application of EU competition law.
This article defends Block Exemption Regulations (‘BERs’) as a legitimate and effective tool for the consideration of public policy within Article 101 of the TFEU enforcement. Going against popular ...opinion, it argues that as the expression of a clearly defined EU-wide political consensus, BERs carry several advantages over the traditional balancing tools of Article 101(1) and (3) individual exceptions, guidelines, or balancing by the exercise of enforcement discretion. BERs offer pre-determined and transparent rules, safeguarding the independent competition authorities’ political accountability and democratic legitimacy, promoting uniformity and legal certainty, reducing compliance and enforcement costs, inviting scrutiny and debate, and fostering experimentalism and flexibility.
The ECN+ Directive gives national competition authorities more power in order to make them more effective enforcers of EU competition law. However, Art. 3 of the ECN+ Directive counterbalances this ...by requiring that appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure that undertakings’ fundamental rights are respected in EU competition law enforcement proceedings. The aim of this article is to critically reflect on the requirements of the ECN+ Directive with respect to safeguards for the fundamental rights that fall within the ambit of Art. 3 of the ECN+ Directive and the implementation of those requirements by EU Member States. To this end, the article first provides an overview of this provision. Second, by means of an overview of national laws, it analyses whether the very general Art. 3 is capable of harmonising the safeguards in question. A set of comparative examples from EU Member States, including in particular examples Poland and the Czech Republic, shows how the wording of Art. 3 invites national legislatures to misuse the potential of this provision. This results in undertakings continuing to face disparity in the extent to which their fundamental rights are protected in competition law enforcement proceedings before the various national competition authorities.
The
ISU
,
Royal Antwerp
and the
European Superleague
cases have upheld athletes’ individual employment rights and provided access to national courts to challenge overly restrictive measures pursuant ...to EU competition law, amongst other things. The immediate impact on the labour relations environment in sport, however, is less obvious. This article discusses the effects of the CJEU decisions for employment relations and the broader trade union movement in sport. It considers the decisions’ effect on collective bargaining, highlights the effectiveness of independent players’ associations as a countervailing power to regulatory power and discusses whether the decisions may be a catalyst for the greater use of social dialogue as a mode of governance insofar as concerns regulation of the labour market.
Sport is becoming more and more attractive for private entities that desire to launch and exploit their own competitions outside the calendar (and control) of international federations. Today, ...breakaway leagues appear in different disciplines with increasing frequency. This poses a problem for sports governing bodies (SGBs) as they see in the newcomers a threat to the sporting values, purely mercantile intentions, and freeriding. Acting as regulators – and gatekeepers – of their respective disciplines, SGBs tend to hinder the entrance of third-party organisers. And, by doing it, they often fall under competition law scrutiny. The judgments in the
ISU
and
Superleague
cases in December 2023 became the legal apex of the confrontation between SGBs and breakaway leagues. The Court opted for an efficiency-oriented, economic approach. But will SGBs sustain the challenge of the new, market-driven principles of sports governance?
(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2022 7(2), 627-639 | European Forum Insight of 17 October 2022 | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Background. - ...II.1. The European Commission Decision. - II.2. The 2014 General Court judgment in Intel. - II.3. The Intel judgment of the Court of Justice. - III. The 2022 General Court decision in Intel. - IV. Critical analysis and further discussion. - V. Conclusion. | (Abstract) The latest judgment of the General Court in the Intel case annulled the EU Commission's decision from 2009 imposing a €1.06 billion fine on Intel for abusing its dominant position by offering fidelity rebate schemes (case T‑286/09 Intel v Commission ECLI:EU:T:2022:19). The judgment reaffirms the application of an "effects-based" approach which requires careful economic analysis in order to establish the abusive nature of fidelity rebates. The judgment demonstrates that the presumption that fidelity rebates are restrictions of competition by object can be rebutted by the dominant company. It also clarifies that the as efficient competitor (AEC) test is not an indispensable part of the assessment in examining the foreclosure capability of all rebate systems but can be a relevant factor where the Commission has carried it out as part of its assessment of the anticompetitive effects of the rebate schemes. This Insight seeks to examine how this clarification can be translated into concrete lessons not only for future cases but also for other cases dealing with similar issues (i.e. the Qualcomm and Google Shopping cases) and, in particular, the significance of the AEC test as a specific tool to evaluate the anticompetitive effects of fidelity rebates. The Insight concludes that the recent judgment leaves more questions than answers regarding the application of the AEC test, and that it can be seen as signalling the demise of the application of this test for future cases.
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