Article 102

Question 1

what are the undertakings

Answer 1

can be public, may even have statutroy rule making power

severla undertakings may be regarded as having collective dominance if there is sufficient connection between them

Question 2

what happened in the case of re italian flat glass

Answer 2

3 businesses worht 79% and 95% of the italian market in flt glass had a collective dominnt postition because they presented themselves as a single entity

Question 3

when deciding whether an undertaking is dominant what do we need to take into account

Answer 3

what is the market in question, can purchasers able to buy substitutes or can the supplier supply or produce acceptable substitutes

Question 4

what happened in the case of continental can

Answer 4

company wanted to take over another company, transfer its interest. commission issued a decision that the taking over of anotehr company was a breach of article 102 because merged companies would be dominant in light metal containers for meat, for fish and metal closures for glass containers. essentially the dominance would be increased by the takeover
ECJ disagreed, the commission shouldve consider posible substitution by the suppliers ie plasti containers and plastic lids.

Question 5

what can be contrasted with continental can

Answer 5

united brands

Question 6

what happened in the case of united brands

Answer 6

had a market share of 40 to 45 percent of teh banana market. controlled the entire distribution system. engaged in various abusive practices. BUT if the market was bananas they could be dominant with a 40 prcent share depending on the size of the nearest competitor. if the market was fruit, they would not be dominant with a less than 5 percent market share - ecj held that the market was banans not fresh fruit, the present of other fruit did not affect the price or consumption of bananas due to their unique attribtues

Question 7

what happened in the case of nederlands B-I

Answer 7

it was found that replacement tires for commercial vehicles was a different market from replacement tires for private cars due to the purchasing practice - commercial purchases would be bulk purchased whilst private purchaser will only by a replacement tire.

Question 8

What happened in the case of British leylan v commission

Answer 8

BL had the responsiblity for tyre approval certificates. it was a government measure designed to approve car safety. manufacturers could not sell their cars n the UK without a TAC. Bl tended to give a small number of TAC’s. the sole responsibility for randing these certificates placed them in a dominant position in the UK

Question 9

what hapened in the case of tetrapak

Answer 9

aseptic packagin was a sepeerate market from milk packaging in general

Question 10

What is the definition of undertaking dominance within a market

Answer 10

a postition of economic strength enjoyed by an undertaking which enables it to prevent effective competition being maintained on the relevan market by giving it the power to behaves o an applicable extent independently of its competitors, customers and ultimately its consumers. - united brands

Question 11

what are the factos that can prove dominance within a market

Answer 11

market share, period of dominance, financial and technical resources, acces to raw materials and sale outlets, behaviour, barrier of entry by others, dependence.

Question 12

What are the cases that can be used to prove dominance on the factor of market share

Answer 12

United brands - had 40 to 45 but nearest competitor was only 15 therefore it was dominant
Hoffmann laroche - had 43% but was not dominant because the next competitor was only 40%

Question 13

What is the case that can be used to prove the factor access to raw materials and sale outlets on the basis of proving dominance

Answer 13

United brands - they controlled the whole distribution system

Question 14

How far can the geographical market go

Answer 14

depends on the market conditions, can be whole of EU, only a few countries or a single country or a part of a country

Question 15

what happened in the case of RTE & ITP v commission

Answer 15

they were major broadcasters. they used the copyright law to maintin a monopoly over weekly TV guides. ECJ said, in rare circumstances use of copyright or other IP rights could be an abuse of a dominant position. ecj came up with a essential facilities doctrine, IP could not be used to prevent an essential facility being developed.

Question 16

what happened in the case of B& I sealink

Answer 16

Single port in this case, may be regarded as a substantial part of the common market if reasonable access to it is essential to exploit a key transport route. sealink has the port authority altered in vary schedules to its own advantage limiting access by B and I’s ships.

Question 17

what is provided to prove undertaking abused

Answer 17

article 102(2)

Question 18

what did continental can establish behaviour wise

Answer 18

it established that behaviour which is anti-competitive can be an abuse even if consumers are not harmed

Question 19

how is abuse divided

Answer 19

exploitative - harming consumers

anti-competitive - harming competitors

Question 20

What are exploitative abuses

Answer 20

imposing unfair conditions that effect consumers
e.g unfair prices not related to economic values of goods, unfair trading conditions, discriminatory treatment, refusal to supply

Question 21

what happened in the case of general motors v commission

Answer 21

GM charged excessive rates for an exclusive inspection service for second hand cars in belgium - held to be an abe to similar effect.

Question 22

why did united brands show unfair trading conditions

Answer 22

UB refused to let importers resell green bananas. this undully favoured big wholesalleers who had large warehouses to ripe bananas.

Question 23

what happened in british leylan and why did it show discriminatory treatment

Answer 23

charged different prices for TAC’s for uk manufactureres, this was without objective justification - held, an abuse

Question 24

what hapened in the case of rte and itp v commission

Answer 24

concerned the refusal. was a monopoly based in the copyright in the listing - held this was an abuse (a refusal to supply) this was beyond the essential function of copyright as outsiders were being denied the chance to produce a new product.

Question 25

what are some factors that proves anti-competitiveness in which harms the consumers

Answer 25

tying in, temporary price reduction also predatory prices, refusal to supplu, exclusive reservation of activites, prevention of imports or exports

Question 26

what happened in the case of hoffman la roche

Answer 26

LR was largest pharmaceutical company in the world. customers agreed to buy all the supplies from them in return for discounts.if they found other suppliers that are selling more cheaply,they an ask LR to reduce prices - failing which they could buy elsewhere - held that this was an abuse of the anti-competitive type.

Question 27

what happened in the case of AKZO v commission

Answer 27

main rpoducer of benzoyle peroxide, the other company was a small competitor. Akzo threatened and then implemented price cuts aimed at the cusomters of the other company. held by the ecj - this from of pricing constituted an abuse if the prices were lower than the variable costs of the product were.

Question 28

what case prooved the possibility of objective justification

Answer 28

hilit AG v commission

Question 29

what happened in Hiliti AG v commission

Answer 29

H produced nial guns for diy. they wer in a dominant position in the market - h required users of its patented nail cartridges for use in its guns to buy nails from them too. h tried to argue that it was a public safety reason held however that the safety standard and protecting users against potential injury were not sufficient justification to excuse what would otherwise b a breach of article 102