Antitrust & Competition Law

European Antitrust and Competition Law

The European antitrust area covers two prohibition rules set out in the European Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

• First, agreements between two or more firms which restrict competition are prohibited by Article 101 of the Treaty, subject to some limited exceptions. This provision covers a wide variety of behaviours. The most obvious example of illegal conduct infringing Article 81 is a cartel between competitors (which may involve price-fixing or market sharing).
• Second, firms in a dominant position may not abuse that position (Article 102 of the Treaty). This is for example the case for predatory pricing aiming at eliminating competitors from the market.

The European Commission is empowered by the EU Treaty to apply these prohibition rules and enjoys a number of investigative powers to that end (e.g. inspection in business and non business premises, written requests for information, etc). It may also impose fines on undertakings who violate EU antitrust rules. Since 1 May 2004, all national competition authorities are also empowered to apply fully the provisions of the Treaty in order to ensure that competition is not distorted or restricted. National courts may also apply these prohibitions so as to protect the individual rights conferred to citizens by the EU Treaty.

Dutch Antitrust and Competition Law

The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) enforces the Dutch Competition Act, which came into effect on 1 January 1998. The Dutch Competition Act is based on and closely linked to European law. The Act is based on a prohibition system very similar to that of Articles 81 and 82 of the EU Treaty.

The services of our antitrust and competition lawyers include:

• civil antitrust litigation;
• merger filings, investigations and litigation;
• other civil government investigations;
• antitrust counseling and compliance.

For further information regarding our services, please contact our contact person.