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The aim of the course is to provide students with a deeper understanding of the current competition law (especially in the European Union) against cartel agreements and abuse of dominance, i.e. antitrust in the narrow sense. The students will be introduced in detail to the legal framework, i.e. in particular Articles 101, 102 and 106 TFEU, its interpretation, related soft-law and application practice. Comparative references to the developmentally older US antitrust will not be absent. The course will also include training in competition analysis of cartel agreements and abuse of dominance cases.
The introduction of the course focuses on the influences that have shaped EU competition law and the tendencies of its development. The second part of the course is a detailed analysis of Articles 101, 102 and 106 TFEU and the basic case law of the CJEU on them. The final part of the course focuses on solving practical examples both jointly and independently, searching for current innovations and tendencies in the application of this part of competition law. Graduates of the course will not perceive the fight against cartel agreements and abuse of dominant position only as a mechanical application of current regulations, but as a very problematic and never-ending process of searching for a balance between the interests of various market participants, interest groups in society, as well as the interests and values of states as a whole. They will benefit from a broader orientation in competition law issues. They will acquire the ability to critically apply the prohibitions of Articles 101, 102 and 106 TFEU in practice, as well as a basic orientation in the differences between EU and US antitrust law. Graduates will be able to identify, classify and explain the different types of distortions of competition by prohibited agreements and manifestations of abuse of dominance, as well as to know how competition authorities intervene against them, using which sanctions and remedies. The main method of teaching will be, besides the teacher's presentations, mainly individual and group presentations of students, solving assigned and independently searched competitive cases and their active discussion. Poslední úprava: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (08.04.2025)
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1. Assessment will take place both during the semester and in the final exam. 2. During the semester, the student may earn 40% of the final grade. The midterm test from the first six topics of the course has a weight of 20%, the individual presentation / essay on the assigned topic 20%. 3. The weight of the end-of-course exam in the final grade is the remaining 60%. 4. The content of the midterm test (written in 20 minutes) includes one theory question and one competition-law problem to be solved. No prescribed legislation or other materials may be used for the continuous test. The final examination is also written. The use of the text of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is permitted for the written examination. The final examination (40 minutes) consists of a more complicated case to be solved by applying the EU competition law rules with which the students have been familiarised.
Example of an individual presentation / essay assignment: Prepare a two-page annotation of Lietuvos geležinkeliai v Commission Case C-42/21 P EU:C:2023:12, reflecting also the opinions of the EU Commission, the EU General Court and the Advocate General of the Court of Justice.
Example of a midterm test assignment: A) Is the association of undertakings referred to in Article 101 TFEU itself an undertaking, or when is it and when is it not? Explain briefly or give an example. B) Answer the question: „My request for goods from a German e-shop selling my favourite brand of alcohol was rejected on the grounds that the e-shop does not sell to other EU countries. Is this an infringement of competition law? If so, what would be the offence? What would be necessary to prove to punish it? Wouldn't the business escape punishment through some exemption?"
Example of a final exam assignment: F1 racing is a sporting competition governed by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), an international organization of national automobile associations. As a self-governing body of motorsport, it is recognised by the International Olympic Committee. The governing body of the FIA is the General Assembly, composed of the presidents of the member clubs. The economic operation of the F1 competition and the television and advertising rights to it are controlled by Formula One Management (FOM), a group of companies responsible for promoting the Formula One World Championship and for exercising the commercial rights of the sport. FOM is controlled by the American C. C. through his company Liberty media. Suppose a group of wealthy investors decided to create a new competition, the Formula Rocket Race (FRR), which would attract those interested in super-fast machines approaching rockets on wheels, outside the framework and rules of the FIA. The FRR has sufficient capital to attract top drivers and some stables to make it superior to F1 racing. The FIA General Assembly was therefore dismissive of the FRR initiative, describing it as a total victory of money over sport and especially over its safety aspects. It has threatened that those stables and drivers who are lured by the FRR's financial offer will not be allowed to compete in FIA-credited events. The FOM first tried to reach an amicable agreement with the investors behind FRR to share the rights to the commercial aspects of FRR, but when negotiations broke down, it joined the FIA's campaign against FRR and threatened anyone who supported FRR in any way with the loss of F1 race prizes, TV broadcast income, advertising and merchandising revenue from individual F1 series races. The professional drivers who feel threatened by this 'clash of giants' are trying, through their Association of Grand Prix Drivers (AGPD), to push both sides to an agreement under threat of strike, so that they can freely participate in F1 and FRR races without the threat of sanction, with only a sports doctor's certificate that the driver can bear the appropriate physical and mental stress. In the meantime, the investors, who had set up FRR as a new, albeit for the time being economically inactive, joint stock company, countered with an attractive takeover offer for the main companies behind FOM, with the aim of removing the economic basis of the dispute by bringing the commercial interests of the whole motorsport exclusively under FRR. 1. Analyse the status of all participating entities, i.e. FIA, FOM, FRR and AGPD from a competition law perspective, explain whether competition law (in general, not jurisdiction specific) applies to them and why. 2. Analyse the current, contemplated or proposed actions of each of the participating entities, i.e. again FIA, FOM, FRR and AGPD, from the perspective of substantive EU competition law, explain whether any of them should be concerned about coming into conflict with that law and why. 3. As a competition law specialist, advise how the parties concerned (FIA, FOM, FRR and AGPD) should react and what they can expect if the Commission initiates competition law infringement proceedings against them.
Poslední úprava: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (08.04.2025)
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The course covers primarily the following topics: 1. Introduction: course information, the importance of competition protection, examples of corporate infringement, historical and doctrinal foundations of competition protection in the US and Europe 2. Key concepts of competition law: undertaking, association of undertakings, economic activity 3. Key concepts of competition law: relevant market, distortion of competition, target and consequential distortions 4. Article 101 TFEU and the typology of prohibited agreements, their interpretation in soft-law and EU decision-making practice 5. Article 101(3) TFEU, the exception to the prohibition of cartels and the European Commission's block exemption 6. Article 101 TFEU, examples of key CJEU case law, competition analysis of prohibited agreements 7. Article 102 TFEU, the concept of dominance and its determination 8. Article 102 TFEU, the concept of abuse, its interpretation and EU application practice 9. Article 102 TFEU, extracts from key CJEU case law, competition analysis of abuses 10. Application of Articles 101 and 102 by the European Commission and national competition authorities 11. Article 106 TFEU and the protection of competition in sectors subject to State influence 12. Competition analysis procedure and its training Poslední úprava: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (28.08.2025)
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Basic literature: 1. Electronic study support - overview of basic documents and case law for the course with links to their location on the web, in particular: a. Documents from the website of the European Commission, DG Competition, https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/index_en b. Case law of the EU Court of Justice http://curia.europa.eu c. US Antitrust Basics https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance and https://www.justice.gov/atr/antitrust-laws-and-you 2. JONES, A; SUFRIN, B.; DUNNE, N., EU Competition Law - Text, Cases, and Materials, Oxford: OUP, 2019. 3. EZRACHI, A. EU Competition Law, An Analytical Guide to leading cases. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2024. Other literature: Current primary and secondary sources sent by the instructor during the semester. Basic legislation (always in wording in force and effect as on the date of examination): 1. Articles 101-106 Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union 2. Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty 3. Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/720 on the application of Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices 4. Guidelines on the applicability of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to horizontal co-operation agreements (2023/C 259/01) 5. Commission Notice on the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of Union competition law (C/2023/6789) Other legal regulations (always in wording in force and effect as on the date of examination): 1. Notice on agreements of minor importance which do not appreciably restrict competition under Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (De Minimis Notice) C 291, 30/08/2014 2. Commission notice on best practices for the conduct of proceedings concerning Articles 101 and 102 TFEU 2011/C 308/06 3. Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European Parliament and of the Council to empower the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market 4. Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union 5. Commission Guidelines on the application of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to abusive exclusionary conduct by dominant undertakings https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/public-consultations/2024-article-102-guidelines_en Poslední úprava: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (28.08.2025)
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