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Behrens, Peter; Fox, Eleanor M. --- "Comment: Controlling dominance or protecting competition: from individual abuses to responsibility for competition" [2006] ELECD 308; in Ullrich, Hanns (ed), "The Evolution of European Competition Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: The Evolution of European Competition Law

Editor(s): Ullrich, Hanns

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845427016

Section Title: Comment: Controlling dominance or protecting competition: from individual abuses to responsibility for competition

Author(s): Behrens, Peter; Fox, Eleanor M.

Number of pages: 9

Extract:

Comment: Controlling dominance or
protecting competition: from individual
abuses to responsibility for competition
Peter Behrens*

1 INTRODUCTION
The author has submitted a very rich paper touching upon many of the funda-
mental problems of competition law in general and of the rules applicable to
dominant firms in particular. The chapter takes a comparative approach to
European and American antitrust law. It also infuses some typical French
conceptions which should be welcomed in the hope that they further stimulate
discussion. For reasons of concision, this comment will be limited to a critical
reflection on some of the most fundamental issues raised in the chapter. The
main objective is to put the chapter into the perspective of the general topic of
Part III of this volume.


2 OBJECTIVES OF COMPETITION LAW
A first fundamental point raised in the chapter relates to the question whether
competition is an objective in itself or an instrument for the achievement of
certain objectives which may not exclusively be related to competition. In this
context, the author presents a juxtaposition of the contemporary American
school of antitrust which is said to be based on the Law and Economics move-
ment, on the one hand, and, on the other, the European school of competition
law which is said to go far beyond the pure logic of competition by including
other objectives, such as the protection of competitors, consumers, social
interests, environmental interests and so on.
First of all, I am not convinced that the protection of competitors or
...