Intensive Course

Introduction to EU Competition Law

Curso Intensivo: Derecho de la Competencia Europeo

Friday, 20 February 2015

Objective:EU competition law is of utmost practical relevance. The prohibitions laid down in articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) have a tremendous impact on almost all activities and transactions that companies regularly engage in, such as commercial contracts, M&A transactions, joint ventures, distribution systems and many others. Therefore, large companies have increasingly hired competition law specialists and the market for external legal advice on competition law related issues has been growing constantly over the last years.

The objective of this half-day intensive course “Introduction to EU Competition Law” is to provide the participants with a first – but sound and comprehensive – overview of the main concepts and features of EU competition law.The course provides the participants with a “first aid kit” on EU competition law and – last but not least – it will hopefully raise their interest for this exciting and challenging field of law.

Lecturer: Dr. Volker Soyez, Haver & Mailänder Attorneys at Law, Brussels

Language: Lecture in English; questions / input from participants may be in Spanish

Date / Location: Friday, 20 February 2015, UM Facultad de Derecho – specific location to be determined

Inscription:Prof. Javier Carrascosa Gonzales

Agenda

9:00 – 11:00: Introduction to EU competition law

  • Objectives and pillars of (EU) competition law
  • Institutional framework (EU Commission, national competition authorities, EU Courts)
  • Sources of EU competition law (articles 101/102 TFEU, regulation 1/2003, block exemption regulations, Commission guidelines and communications, Commission decisions, case law from European Courts)
  • The cartel prohibition (article 101 (1) TFEU)
  • (Block) exemptions (article 101 (3) TFEU)
  • Abuses of dominance (article 102 TFEU)

11:00 – 11:15: Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:45: Procedure

  • Initiation of an investigation(complaints / leniency programs / ex oficio investigations)
  • Investigative powers (requests for information, power to take statements, dawn raids)
  • Rights of defence (fair trial, hearings, access to the file, attorney-client-privilege)
  • Decisions, sanctions, settlements, imposition/calculation of fines
  • Appeals to the European Courts

12:45 – 13:00: Coffee Break

13:00 – 14:15: Private competition litigation & merger control

  • Private competition litigation (landmark ECJ judgments, stand-alone actions vs. follow-on actions, standing, passing-on-defence, access to the file, collective redress, limitation periods, quantification of damages, international forum (Regulation 1215/2012), applicable law (Rome II Regulation)
  • Merger control (concept, Regulation 139/2004, turnover thresholds, notification procedure, SIEC-test)

14:15 – 14:30: Questions & Answers, Discussion

14:30: end