EU Competition Law and Policy

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: 1,0 (A), Leeds Metropolitan University, course: EU Policy and Business, language: English, abstract: Competition between companies, governments and states within and across the global trading areas1 has become a vital part in this new world of less political and economical boundaries. Competition law therefore has to regulate the market powers of those who participate in the global exchange of goods and services. "There are now at least 80 systems of competition law in the world, in all continents and in all types of economies; many others are in contemplation.[...]"2. It has a substantial impact upon the outline of agreements. With Articles 81 and 82 of the EEC Treaty EU jurisprudence and the legislative bodies of the Member States (MMS) have a basis to work on this topic of immense importance. Ignoring the competition rules not seldom lead to large fines being levied by the European Commission (in July 1991 Tetra Pak was fined because of competition law infringement with a record sum of ₤52mn)3. The aim of this essay is to briefly outline the scope of EU s competition policy and laws and to give an insight into both the Agreements of Minor Importance ("de Minimis") and the impact of Competition Law on the topic of parallel (grey) imports. The latter is examined on a case study given. The basis of this essay consists of secondary literature taken from books, treaties, articles, notices or webpages. A full bibliography can be found at the end of the main part.