Antitrust Law Amidst Financial Crises

by Ioannis Kokkoris , Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal

• ISBN13: 9780521194839
• ISBN10: 0521194830
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-11-08
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The ultimate goal of competition law is to promote competition and, in most jurisdictions, to enhance consumer welfare. Competition policy may be set aside due to special and exceptional circumstances, such as a financial crisis that threatens the stability of an economy. It is therefore important to have a clear understanding of competition law and the exceptions to it. The key issue that this book addresses is whether a financial crisis can justify the adoption of a more lenient approach to established legal standards as a result of the risks of the systemic crisis to the entire market. It provides an analysis of exceptions to competition law and policy, particularly in the context of a financial crisis, explores the rationale of competition law in the light of conflicting interests, and serves as a valuable practical guide for policy makers as well as practitioners in the field.

Author Biography

Ioannis Kokkoris is a reader at the University of Reading, where he specializes in competition law and competition economics. He is also an international consultant on competition policy for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal is Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick, where he specializes in insolvency and financial law. He is also a member of the editorial or advisory boards of several related journals and a member of various national and international institutions and associations specializing in comparative commercial and insolvency law.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. x
Foreword	p. xii
Preface	p. xiv
Table of cases	p. xvi
Table of treaties and other international instruments	p. xxx
Introduction	p. 1
Introduction to competition law: EU, US and UK	p. 14
Introduction	p. 14
European Union	p. 18
The United States of America	p. 46
United Kingdom	p. 61
Concluding remarks	p. 70
Some notes on crises	p. 72
Introduction	p. 72
What is a crisis?	p. 73
What are the different types of crisis?	p. 74
How do we know that we are in a crisis?	p. 81
Some financial and economic crises of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries	p. 81
Business opportunities in a crisis period	p. 92
Overregulation after the crisis?	p. 97
Concluding remarks	p. 102
Failing-firm defence	p. 103
Introduction	p. 103
Corporate restructuring	p. 107
Failing-firm defence	p. 108
The European Union perspective	p. 110
Derogation: removing the suspension	p. 131
Failing-firm defence cases before the UK competition authorities	p. 138
Failing-firm defence cases before other national competition authorities	p. 161
Derogation: removing the suspension	p. 194
Reflections from theory and practice	p. 195
Concluding remarks	p. 203
Efficiencies	p. 214
Introduction	p. 214
A primer on efficiencies	p. 217
The European Commission's approach towards efficiencies	p. 222
European Commission decisional practice	p. 228
The UK approach towards efficiencies	p. 232
The US approach to efficiencies	p. 245
US case law on efficiencies	p. 248
Concluding remarks	p. 256
Crisis cartels	p. 259
Introduction	p. 259
Germany	p. 262
The European Union	p. 274
The United States of America	p. 307
Crisis cartels in other jurisdictions	p. 324
Financial-constraints defence	p. 334
Concluding remarks	p. 347
State aid (Phedon Nicolaides)	p. 349
Introduction	p. 349
How much state aid?	p. 350
The concept of state aid	p. 352
Possible exceptions (compatible aid)	p. 363
Conclusions	p. 369
Competition enforcement in periods of crisis	p. 389
Introduction	p. 389
Experience of other crises	p. 391
The objectives of competition law	p. 397
Welfare standards	p. 401
Merger enforcement amidst crises	p. 403
Crisis cartels amidst crises	p. 455
State aid amidst crises	p. 471
Concluding remarks	p. 492
Conclusion	p. 499
Control of state aid	p. 500
Merger control	p. 502
Crisis cartels	p. 506
Index	p. 510
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