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Papadias, Lambros --- "Some thoughts on collective dominance from a lawyer's perspective" [2004] ELECD 54; in Buigues, A. Pierre; Rey, Patrick (eds), "The Economics of Antitrust and Regulation in Telecommunications" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004)

Book Title: The Economics of Antitrust and Regulation in Telecommunications

Editor(s): Buigues, A. Pierre; Rey, Patrick

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843765103

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: Some thoughts on collective dominance from a lawyer's perspective

Author(s): Papadias, Lambros

Number of pages: 19

Extract:

7. Some thoughts on collective dominance from a
lawyer's perspective
Lambros Papadias*

1. INTRODUCTION
The notion of collective or oligopolistic dominance has been widely discussed in Europe
and elsewhere over recent years by competition lawyers and economist alike.1 Its applica-
tion under the EC competition rules (Article 82) and especially under the Merger Control
Regulation (MCR)2 has aroused particular interest since neither the relevant Treaty provi-
sion (Article 82) nor the MCR gives a meaningful definition of the term `collective
dominance'. Moreover, the recent jurisprudence of the Court of Justice and of the Court of
First Instance has contributed in raising more questions than providing needed answers.3 In
particular, the entry into force in 1990 of the MCR forced the Community judge to start
thinking about an articulated and perspective structural antitrust analysis and the effective
treatment under the Community rules of the so-called `oligopoly problem',4 a problem dealt
in the past exclusively under Article 81 of the Treaty and the `cartel' theory.
The current discussions, however rich and thought-provoking they may be, have not yet
succeeded in clarifying certain core issues of the theory of collective dominance. There is
still a certain degree of confusion as to what collective dominance means or should mean for
the purposes of applying EC competition law. This is due, among other things, to the fact
that the `oligopoly problem' dealt under the notion of collective dominance and especially
the concept of tacit collusion which lies at ...