Restrictions of competition in vertical agreements – is there a place to study the effects? Comments in the light of the recent case-law of the Polish courts and the CJEU Cover Image

Ograniczenia konkurencji w porozumieniach wertykalnych – czy jest miejsce na badanie skutku? Uwagi w świetle ostatniego orzecznictwa sądów polskich i TSUE
Restrictions of competition in vertical agreements – is there a place to study the effects? Comments in the light of the recent case-law of the Polish courts and the CJEU

Author(s): Katarzyna Górna, Małgorzata Kozak, Anna Wawruch
Subject(s): Business Economy / Management, Commercial Law
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Zarządzania Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: competition restricting agreements; object of the agreement; effect of the agreement; legal and economic context of the agreement

Summary/Abstract: The subject of this article is to examine the current judicial practice of Polish common courts and the ECJ on the agreements that restrict competition by object or by effect. The article discusses the decisions and judgements, the content of which confirms that in the absence of that agreement to be restrictive of competition by object, it is necessary to carry out an extensive analysis of the economic and legal environment of the agreement for the assessment of its possible anti-competitive effects. The analysis leads to the conclusion that in the recent case law there is still a noticeable tendency to blur the boundary between these two types of anti-competitive agreements and a tendency to adopt simplifications assuming that if there is no certainty as to the validity of the qualification of an agreement as violation “by object”, its anti-competitive effects are shown.

  • Issue Year: 5/2016
  • Issue No: 7
  • Page Range: 93-115
  • Page Count: 23
  • Language: Polish