Competition law

Abstract: European integration has created a constitutional asymmetry between policies promoting market efficiencies and policies promoting social protection and equality. National welfare states are legally and economically constrained by European rules of economic integration, liberalization and competition law, whereas efforts to adopt European social policies are politically impeded by the diversity of national welfare states, differing not only in levels of economic development and hence in their ability to pay for social transfers and services but, even more significantly, in their normative aspirations and institutional structures. In response, the ‘open method of coordination’ is now being applied in the social-policy field. It leaves effective policy choices at the national level, but tries to improve these through promoting common objectives and common indicators, and through comparative evaluations of national policy performance. These efforts are useful but cannot overcome the constitutional asymmetry. Hence there is reason to search for solutions which must have the character of European law in order to establish constitutional parity with the rules of European economic integration, but which also must be sufficiently differentiated to accommodate the existing diversity of national welfare regimes. The article discusses two such options, ‘closer co-operation’ and a combination of differentiated ‘framework directives’ with the open method of co-ordination.

Abstract: 1: The Development of European Integration. 2: The Institutions of the Community. 3: Community Legislation and Policy-Making. 4: The Nature of EC Law: Direct and Indirect Effect. 5: The Application of EC Law: Remedies in National Courts. 6: The Relationship Between EC Law and National Law: Supremacy. 7: General Principles I: Fundamental Rights. 8: General Principles of Community Law II: Proportionality, Legitimate Expectations, Non-Discrimination, and Transparency. 9: Enforcement Actions Against Member States. 10: Preliminary Rulings and the Building of a European Judicial System. 11: Review of Legality. 12: Damages Actions and Money Claims. 13: Free Movement of Goods: Duties, Charges, and Taxes. 14: Free Movement of Goods: Quantitative Restrictions. 15: Free Movement of Capital and European Monetary Union. 16: Free Movement of Workers and Beyond. 17: Freedom of Establishment and to Provide Services. 18: The Public-Policy, Security, and Health Derogations: Directive 64/221. 19: Equal Treatment of Women and Men. 20: Competition Law: Article 81. 21: Competition Law: Article 82. 22: Competition Law: Mergers. 23: Competition: Enforcement and Procedure. 24: Intellectual Property. 25: The State and the Common Market. 26: Completion of the Single Market

Abstract: Preface - Table of Cases - Table of Statutes - Table of Statutory Instruments - Table of European and International Legislation - Introduction - PART I: PATENTS AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION - Patents - Patentability (1) - Patentability (2) - Ownership - Protecting the Patent - Breach of Confidence - PART II: TRADE MARKS AND PASSING OFF - Trade Marks - Registration of Trade Marks - Protection of Trade Marks - Passing Off - Character Merchandising - Trade Marks - International Provisions - PART III: COPYRIGHT AND DESIGN - Copyright - Subsistence (1) - Subsistence (2) - Infringement - Defences - Ownership and Duration of Copyright and Moral Rights - Performance Rights - Registered Designs - Unregistered Designs - PART IV: COMPETITION - Intellectual Property and Competition Law - PART V: FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS - The Future of Intellectual Property - Bibliography - Index

Abstract: This paper discusses the general characteristics of online markets from a competition theory perspective and the implications for competition policy. Three important Internet markets are analyzed in more detail: search engines, online auction platforms, and social networks. Given the high level of market concentration and the development of competition over time, we use our theoretical insights to examine whether (a) leading Internet platforms have non-temporary market power and, based on this analysis, (b) whether any specific market regulation beyond general competition law rules is warranted in these three online markets.

Abstract: The Nature of the Community: Integration, Democracy and Legitimacy The Institutional Development of the EU: A Constitutional Analysis The EU as a 'Layered' International Organisation: Institutional Unity in Disguise External Relations and External Competence: The Emergence of an Integrated Policy Direct Effect, Supremacy and the Nature of the Legal Order Article 177 in Social and Political Context European Administrative Law and the Global Challenge Remedies for Breaches of EC Law in National Courts: Legal Variation and Selection The European Court of Justice The Constitution of the Common Market Place: The Free Movement of Goods The Free Movement of Persons and Services EMU Revisited: Are We Making a Constitution? What Constitution Are We Making? EC 'Social' Policy The Principle of Equal Treatment: From Market Unifier to Fundamental Right? From the Margins to the Centre: Education and Training Law and Policy Competition Law and Intellectual Property Rights: Evolving Formalism Regional policy: An Evolutionary Perspective Inhabitants in the Field of EC Environmental Law Consumer Policy Community, State and Market Governance and the Single European Market