The Downhill Trend in Commitment Mechanism of EU Competition Law: Empirical evidence

Abstract

The European Commission has been given the authority to make commitments of undertakings in question binding with Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003. As a consequence of this reform, there has been a significant increase in commitment decisions compared to prohibition decisions over time, but prohibition decisions are currently predominant again. This study attempts to discuss this downward trend in commitment decisions taken in EU competition law between the years 2004 and 2020 through reviewing from a legal point of view and statistically examining the case law. Although the increase in commitment decisions is deemed beneficial in practical terms, it has increased legal uncertainties in the long run. This is because the provision of effective competition is left to negotiations to be reached between the undertakings and the Commission, instead of a thorough application of competition law rules in a uniform and consistent manner. In this context, discussions and recommendations are presented concerning under which circumstances commitment decisions are more appropriate to make.