EC Competition Procedure

This is the second edition of a key analytical commentary on the competition procedures of the EC, written by a distinguished editor and contributor team with extensive experience in the area. It provides the reader with an exhaustive account of the relevant rules, which includes a completely revised and updated analysis of antitrust procedure in the wake of the modernization of EU competition law. The reader is given a detailed discussion of the Commission's package of regulations and guidelines and their interaction in practice, in a field where new rules have caused a major change and the need for practitioners to reorientate themselves. The section on antitrust rules will be complemented by new sections on procedures for public undertakings, merger control, and state aid. As a practical guide to procedure it focuses upon the implementation of the regulatory framework by the Commission and the relevant case law of the European Courts. It will prove an indispensable source of guidance for all practitioners involved in competition proceedings before the European Commission and national competition authorities.

Table of Contents:
PART I: ANTITRUST RULES (ARTICLES 81 AND 82 EC); 1. The Institutional Framework; 2. The Role of National Judicial Authorities; 3. The Role of National Competition Authorities; 4. The Organization of EC Commission Proceedings; 5. Opening of the File; 6. Investigation of Cases (I): Leniency Policy; 7. Investigation of Cases (II): Formal Investigative measures, in general. Interviews and Requests for Information; 8. Investigation of Cases (III): Inspections; 9. Investigation of Cases (IV): Penalties, Confidentiality; 10. Infringement Procedures; 11. Infringement Decisions and Penalties; 12. Rejection of Complaints; 13. Commitments, Voluntary Adjustments, Conclusion of the Procedure Without a Formal Decision; 14. Special Procedures; 15. Steps following the Adoption of a Formal Decision. Judicial Review; PART II: CONTROL OF CONCENTRATIONS (REGULATION 139/2004); 16. General Issues. Scope of Control; 17. Procedures; 18. Judicial Review of Commission Decisions Regarding Concentrations; PART III: PUBLIC UNDERTAKINGS AND EXCLUSIVE OR SPECIAL RIGHTS (ARTICLE 86(3) EC); 19. Procedures on State Measures - Decisions under Article 86(3) EC; 20. Directives Under Article 86(3) EC; PART IV: STATE AID (ARTICLES 87 AND 88 EC); 21. General Questions on Procedures. Control of State Aid Compatibility. Council's Decision-making Powers; 22. Prior Control of New Notified Aid; 23. Unlawful Aid; 24. Control of Existing Aid Schemes; 25. Implementation of the Commission's Decisions; 26. Role of National Courts; 27. State Aid Litigation before the Community Courts; PART V: COMPETITION LAW AND PROCEDURE IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA; 28. European Economic Area Competition Procedure; APPENDICES; I. Antitrust Rules (Articles 81 and 82 EC); II. Merger Control (Regulation 139/2004); III. Public Undertakings and Exclusive or Special Rights (Article 86 EC); IV. State Aid (Articles 87 and 88 EC); V. European Economic Area Competition Procedure

About the Author :
Luis Ortiz Blanco is partner at the EU and Competition Law Group of Garrigues Abogados. He is a former official of DGIV of the European Commission (now DG COMP), where he worked between 1986 and 1993 and in 1996. Currently he represents clients both before national and Community authorities or jurisdictions, including defence and complaints for anticompetitive behaviour both under Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty, notification of mergers before the European Commission's MTF and the Spanish Competition Authorities, and state aids. He has been handling the merger filings of large international and Spanish companies. Luis Ortiz Blanco is also the Director of the EC and Spanish Competition Law Courses at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid.