Keywords
Combating Unfair Competition Act, Article 15(1)(4) Combating Unfair Competition Act, so-called slotting fees, margin, market, market access, economic approach, freedom of contract, equivalent benefit, large-format stores
Abstract
Emphasized here is the need to use an economic approach to the application of Article 15(1)(4) of the Combating Unfair Competition Act. A legal analysis of the terms used therein and its literal wording cannot form the only basis of its interpretation which should also include market aspects of its application. The notion of benefits should be used as a instruments to assess ‘equivalence of benefits’ under contracts concluded by large-format stores with their suppliers. The concept of benefits is important because it is acceptable to collect slotting fees if it is possible to prove that suppliers gain a measurable benefit for the fee they pay. The ratio legis of Artile 15(1)(4) of the Combating Unfair Competition Act can under no circumstances be brought down to the order to eliminate agreements other than those on the acceptance of goods for sale such as those on goods transport or on marketing, consulting or logistic services. The analysis of equivalence of benefits should therefore include not only a simple comparison of costs borne by a retail chain on an advertising campaign with the hypothetical costs that a supplier would have to bear if it was to conduct it on its own to achieve a comparative sales volume. Considered in such an analysis should also be benefits impossible to estimate in terms of quantity such as, for example, possible future cooperation between the supplier and a large-format retail chain. Assessing respective benefits for suppliers and recipients of goods within the analysis of their contract relations in light of Article 15(1)(4) of the Combating Unfair Competition Act makes it possible to arrive at a realistic market evaluation of equivalence of benefits.
Recommended Citation
Banasiński, C. (2013). The concept of benefit as the evaluation parameter for equivalency in the application of Article 15(1)(4) of the Combating Unfair Competition Act. internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation), 2(2), 63-71. Retrieved from https://press.wz.uw.edu.pl/ikar/vol2/iss2/7
First Page
63
Last Page
71
Page Count
8
Publisher
University of Warsaw
