Abstract
The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether environmental restrictions or requirements are considered in competition law. Common sense conceives that a company that bears costs of complying with environmental requirements experiences increased costs and seeks to transfer it to the prices of its products. A possible consequence of this behavior is its effects upon the competitive position of the company in the market. Thus, the interface between environmental requirements and competition law is enhanced. Companies that disobeyed environmental regulations would have a hypothetical competitive advantage over companies in the same sector that obeyed it. Would this situation require (greater) oversight of compliance with environmental laws for all companies to observe and comply with such legislation? Or, alternatively, is it necessary to aggravate/mitigate penalties in competition law of those who have failed/fulfilled in environmental law? In this context, the paper focuses on the second question and investigates environmental implications of competition law. It initially shows that there is no immediate response in the specialized literature. We review legal and economic references to display arguments of those scholars who believe that a certain dialogue between the environment and competition is possible and of those scholars that, on the other hand, understand that they are elements not compatible or even conflicting. Finally, we estimate economic costs of the mutual lack of attention between these two branches of law using case studies from the Brazilian reality.
Highlights
This paper assesses whether environmental restrictions or requirements are considered in competition law
Would this dilemma require oversight of compliance with environmental laws in order for all companies to observe and comply with such laws? Or, is it necessary to aggravate / attenuate punishments in the competition law for those who did not comply with the environmental law? This research focuses with greater interest on the second question, since the first examines ways to enforce legislation
We seek answer to a basic inquiry: what are the implications of environmental law on competition law? It is a relevant issue for both environment and competition frameworks as well as to producers and consumers of “environmentally friendly products” and their “fair prices”
Summary
This paper assesses whether environmental restrictions or requirements are considered in competition law. It is often the case that an environmentally friendly product is born with possible reduction in competition Would this dilemma require (greater) oversight of compliance with environmental laws in order for all companies to observe and comply with such laws? In the European Union - EU, even though many lawyers and economists reject the idea that environmental concerns should play a significant role in competition policy, the issue has been discussed and public policy makers have been asked to demonstrate the importance of environmental factors in construction competition law In such circumstance, Economics can play a relevant role. Competition authorities consider environmental issues in their daily work, but so far only provide special consideration for their impacts Both (competition and the environment) have different means, but share common objectives in terms of maximizing social well-being and correcting market failures. We discuss the possibilities of overlapping of these two branches of law in order to indicate that keep them apart implies negative economic consequences
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