Keywords
competition restricting agreements, object of agreements, effect of agreements, formalistic approach, economic approach, ancillary restraints, objective justification
Abstract
The article analyses recent decisions of the Polish competition authority which concern prohibitions on the grounds of an anticompetitive object or effect on an agreement. Three areas are taken into account in this context: (a) the authority’s understanding and use of the concept of “effect of anticompetitive agreement”; (b) the extent to which the authority considers the overall economic environment of the scrutinised agreements and; (c) the use by the authority of methods rationalising the prohibition of competition restricting agreements (i.e. ancillary restraints and objective justifi cations of a competition restriction). The following conclusions are drawn from this analysis: (a) the Polish competition authority endeavours to prove the occurrence of anticompetitive effects even though this is not formally required if an anticompetitive object is suffi ciently proven. The authority tends to apply a simplifi ed view of anticompetitive effects – it sees them more as a spot deformation of a narrow section of business activities rather than an actual restriction of competition mechanisms; (b) the authority takes into account the overall economic context of the scrutinised agreements only in some cases – it most often follows a formalistic approach; (c) there is no evidence of the authority trying to fi nd new methods of rationalising its assessment by considering, for example, ancillary restraints or an objective justifi cation of competition restrictions.
Recommended Citation
Bolecki, A. (2012). Restrictions of competition by object or by effect in recent Polish case law. internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation), 1(1), 16-32. Retrieved from https://press.wz.uw.edu.pl/ikar/vol1/iss1/2
First Page
16
Last Page
32
Page Count
16
Publisher
University of Warsaw
