The article critically examines the European Commission's decision in the four-to-three merger between Telefónica Deutschland and E-Plus. Despite the explicit recognition of the importance of vertical effects in the telecommunications sector more generally as exemplified by the European...

This essay explores the scope of the European Commission's power to impose remedies in cases of abuse of a dominant position under Article 82 of the Treaty establishing the European Community. After introductory remarks regarding the legal basis and objectives of remedies, we delineate the...

The article discusses the legal basis for structural remedies under European Competition Law in light of the mainly German criticism of recent commitment decisions in the energy sector and in particular the E.ON decisions of DG Competition. In particular the article discusses what “bringing an...

A crucial step in the quantification of damage in the context of damages claims is the estimation of the counterfactual price level: the price level that would have been observed in the absence of the cartel. This article discusses the Difference-in-Differences (“DiD”) estimation procedure...

This paper discusses the asymmetric use of structural remedies in merger control and antitrust in EU competition law. This asymmetry is explained by what is considered an erroneous legal perception concerning the subsidiarity of structural remedies over behavioural ones under Article 7 of...

The damages directive recently adopted by the European Parliament and the Council contains a rebuttable presumption regarding the damage presumably caused by cartels. This rebuttable presumption, while allowing a reversal of the burden of proof which may be procedurally justified in facilitating...

In the wake of the successful implementation of leniency programs in and across the EU other instruments of cartel detection have become less prominent. In the period from 2002 to the end of 2005, the Commission adopted 30 statements of objections, a necessary procedural step before taking a...

The effectiveness of any competition authorities' enforcement depends as much on the actual implementation of the adopted decisions as on the investigation of the infringements and the finding of liability. Once liability has been established, re-establishing the conditions for effective...