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Choumelova, Dessislava; Delgado, Juan --- "Monitoring competition in the telecommunications sector: European Commission Sector Inquiries" [2004] ELECD 65; 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 15

Section Title: Monitoring competition in the telecommunications sector: European Commission Sector Inquiries

Author(s): Choumelova, Dessislava; Delgado, Juan

Number of pages: 16

Extract:

15. Monitoring competition in the
telecommunications sector: European
Commission Sector Inquiries
Dessislava Choumelova and Juan Delgado*

1. INTRODUCTION
Thorough knowledge of the market is fundamental for the analysis of any potential
anticompetitive practice and for the application of competition-law remedies. For this aim,
the European Commission (hereafter, the Commission) can make use of a sector inquiry,
which is a legal instrument to perform sector-wide investigations into commercial practices
relating to an entire sector of the EU economy.
There are circumstances where markets do not seem to work perfectly but the causes for
the potential market failure are not easily identifiable. There are also situations, such as
liberalization processes or major changes in legislation, where competition problems can be
envisaged but not easily singled out in advance. It is in those circumstances where the use of
a sector inquiry might be convenient.
A sector inquiry analyses the situation and evolution of a specific market or sector across
the EU and allows for the comparison of the functioning of a product/service market in
different Member States. As a result of this analysis and the comparison between different
countries, it may be possible to identify and investigate breaches of competition law.
A sector inquiry is a preliminary step in the application of competition law itself although
it does not necessarily have to result in the opening of an infringement procedure. A sector
inquiry is no more than a powerful investigation tool and does not pre-empt the existence of
infringements ...