Services of general economic interest (SGEI) are of great importance in all the Member States of the European Union. Their significance has been established in Articles 16 and 86 of the EC Treaty. The Altmark judgement of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of July 2003 marked a new stage in the...

A year ago, the US Supreme Court adopted its famous judgment in the Trinko case. This ruling has significantly narrowed the scope of applicability of US antitrust law provisions in network industries. On the substantive ground, the Supreme Court dismissed the existence of the essential facility...

The European Union’s regulatory framework for the electronic communications sector changed in July 2003 and was aligned more closely with competition law. The new framework includes guidance and constraints concerning the selection and definition of markets, and their competitive...

This paper provides a discussion of the generic problems in the provision of narrowband services that might require regulatory action, the principles that should be followed in the choice of remedies, and a number of detailed regulatory measures that might be applied in the various narrowband...

This paper discusses possible remedies in the three mobile telephony markets defined in the EC Recommendation. For each market, the nature of the problem is first described, followed by the understanding of the potential market failures associated to that market. Finally, the optimal approach...

Two important developments in gas supply contracts are (i) the (partial) shift towards shorter term trades, and (ii) the focus on credit issues in the light of the insolvency risk. This article discusses these and other key issues to be covered in a gas supply contract from a Belgian law...

The recently published ERG Common Position on remedies under the new regulatory framework for electronic communications has been received by many observers and industry actors as a very intricate and at times impenetrable document. However, while clearly being very dense, it is a particularly...

The Hypothetical Monopolist Test is being applied as a means of establishing Relevant Economic Markets for the purposes of ex ante regulation in the EU. This paper points out some common types of bias and error in the application of the test. The likely consequence is that regulatory authorities...

This article inspects the main economic aspects of EU rail reform. After highlighting the dramatic loss of market share of rail since the 1960s, the case for reform is argued to rest on three arguments: the need for greater competitiveness of rail, promoting the (market driven) diversion of road...

This paper discusses and evaluates remedies for operators found to have significant market power in broadband services (taken here to be broadband wholesale access, unbundled local loops and leased lines) under the new European regulatory framework for electronic communications services. It is...