The Role of the competition protection authority in the French legal system

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of the paper is presentation of a French body - Autorité de la concurrence - responsible for protecting competition. The paper will discuss its role, characteristic features and judiciary instruments available to the body. Furthermore, the aim of the paper is to place the above-mentioned body of the French economic administration in the pan-European system for protecting competition and pinpointing the competition policy mechanisms it uses. It is essential to analyse available legislation which applies to the institution. Design / Research methods: The core research method applied in the paper is a formal and dogmatic method which allows for identifying the content of applicable legal standards (including the rights and obligations of the body described in the paper and the entities administered by the body) as well as the rules (presented from the point of view of directives and/or with their description) which form the basis for the standards. In addition, the functional analysis method used to analyse how law works in practice was also used. Sources of French law and literature on the competition law were also analysed. Conclusions / findings: The author concluded that the complexity of economic mechanisms requires an extended and transparent system for maintaining correct operation of the competition protecting authorities and bodies in France. He believes that it is one of the foundations of a contemporary democratic state of law which guarantees delivery on the principles of legality and economic freedom. It was demonstrated that the mechanisms available to the French Competition Office comply with the European competition law and may have a positive impact on entrepreneurs' behaviour on the market. Originality / value of the article: The author believes that the topic of the paper is pertinent and original. So far, only few representatives of the public commercial law doctrine devoted their thoughts to the operation of the European competition bodies. What is more, conclusions from the paper may offer some suggestions to the Polish legislator who may adapt solutions used in French law and create a model of competition and sectoral regulation bodies. Implications of the research: An analysis of French legal standards may contribute to continuing research in the commercial administration and to the application of a comparative method in order to formulate some interesting conclusions. In addition, it may also encourage Polish researchers to take up the topic related to the operation of competition bodies also in other EU states.