Recent developments in EU competition law (2006–2008): Single-firm dominance and the interpretation of Article 82

Abstract

Abstract In December 2008, the Commission published a ‘Guidance on the Commission's Enforcement Priorities in Applying Article 82 EC Treaty to Abusive Exclusionary Conduct by Dominant Undertakings’. The communication appears to conclude a debate on a ‘more economic approach’ towards Article 82 which has occupied the competition law community for the last three years. This article reviews the proposals contained in the ‘Priorities Paper’ in the light of the important judgments on the abuse of single-firm dominance which the CFI and the ECJ have issued between 2006 and 2008, including the Microsoft judgment. It strives to ascertain the current state of the law on Article 82, and the room it leaves for a ‘more economic approach’.