Article 234 and Competition Law: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Many of the most significant principles established by the ECJ have been decided in the context of a reference to that court for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 (ex 177) EC. Article 234 facilitates a dialogue between the national courts and the ECJ in order to allow national courts to seek guidance on the appropriate interpretation of Community law principles in a particular dispute. The importance of the Article 234 procedure in seeking to ensure the uniform and consistent interpretation of Community law cannot be under-estimated, particularly in the field of competition law. This article is based on collaborative research involving fourteen Member States and a comprehensive review of all Article 234 competition and State aid rulings to 1 May 2004. The article considers various issues relating to the number and type of preliminary rulings given by the ECJ in competition-law related matters. It provides insights into which Member States have resorted most frequently to the Article 234 mechanism, and the types of competition law issues raised in those legal disputes, and assesses the extent to which resort to the procedure has varied over different time-frames, together with suggested rationale for the varying use between different Member States, and over different periods of time. Finally, the article outlines the extent to which information has been gained on the post-ruling process in different Member States.