1. Competition law Class 8-9
NAGY, Csongor István

2. Fields of competition law
Unfair competition law: acts contrary to business ethics
Antitrust:
Cartels/agreements in restraint of trade
Abuse of dominant position
Merger control
Competition rules applicable to states:
State aid
Market liberalization

3. Sanction of antitrust violations
competition fine;
actions for damages;
exclusion from public tenders;
criminal punishment or occupation ban (not in all countries)

4. Some general concepts
Competition law is about economic entities and not legal persons.
Competition law may have extra-territorial effect.
Competition law covers all market behavior.

5. Agreements On the basis of competition risks
Hardcore agreements
Agreements subjected to effects-analysis (‘it depends’)
Horizontal and vertical agreements

6. Horizontal hardcore cartels
Price-fixing between competitors
Market-sharing, customer-sharing agreements
Reduction of output
Holding back technological development
Exchange of pricing information

7. Leniency policy Complete immunity: Reduction of the fine:
information that enables the institution of the proceedings, or
Information the enables the establishing of the violation
Reduction of the fine:
evidence of added-value
admission of guilt

8. Informant award Entered into force on April 1, 2010.
Informant award is granted to the natural person who gives to the HCO indispensible written evidence or helps the HCO to find it in the frame of a dawn raid.
The amount of the informant award is 1 % of the fine, but it cannot be more than 50 million HUF.
Limits of the right for award:
The statutory representative of an undertaking having submitted a leniency application is not entitled to the award..
No award is paid for evidence acquired through a crime or an offence.
The statute protects the informant: everyone can request information at the HCO without revealing his/her identity, the informant can request that his/her personal data be treated confidently.

9. Vertical hardcore agreements
Resale price fixing (minimum and concrete prices, BUT maximum and recommended resale prices are not automatically prohibited)
Absolute territorial protection (ban on passive sales); BUT relative territorial protection (ban on active sales) is not automatically prohibited.

10. Effect type agreements
Horizontal Agreements
Joint selling/purchasing
Research & Development
Specialization
Vertical agreements
Non-compete clauses

11. Abuse of dominant position
Tying/bundling
Predatory pricing
Price/Margin squeeze
Refusal to deal/essential facilities
Loyalty rebates

12. Merger
Over a certain turnover all transactions are to be notified to the competition authority.
EU dimension: Commission; otherwise: national competence.
No dominant position may be created by way of merger. Internal growth is certainly not prohibited.
Conditions/commitments: divestiture, behavioral commitments.