European Competition Law:A Practitioner's Guide

EC competition law is in a steady process of evolution. Many important changes in legislation and enforcement emphasis have occurred since the First Edition appeared in 1991. These changes include:

<li class=copymedium>the amendment of the merger control regulation<li class=copymedium> the harmonization and simplification of the procedural rules<li class=copymedium> the liberalization of hitherto monopolized markets<li class=copymedium> the coordinated application of the competition rules by the Commission<li class=copymedium> national authorities and national courts<li class=copymedium>a reappraisal of how to deal with vertical restraints in the Commission's Green Paper, the Council's first response, and finally the Commission's White Paper on Modernization of the Rules Implementing Article 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty (as renumbered by the Amsterdam Treaty).

<p class=copymedium>Even more fundamental changes in the structure of the Community and the dynamic forces of competition have caused a broader rethinking about competition rules which is ongoing as this Second Edition goes to press.

<p class=copymedium>The enlargement of the Community, monetary union, the new tasks attributed by the Maastricht and the Amsterdam Treaties, the continuing integration of national markets, the globalization of the economy and increasing international cooperation among antitrust authorities are new challenges and opportunities which call for a modernization of competition rules and enforcement procedures.

<p class=copymedium>To prepare a Second Edition of the Practitioner's Guide in such a period of change was a challenge, a risk and a necessity. The practitioner needs to be informed about how the EC competition rules are currently being applied in order to render meaningful, practical advice to firms whose agreements, transactions and conduct in the market place are governed by the competition rules. The Second Edition attempts to meet this need.