Aggiornato A.A. 2016-2017
Objectives
The objective of the course is to provide students with in-depth, critical and up-to-date knowledge of EU Competition Law and Regulation.
The substantive law (Article 101, Article 102, Article 106, Articles 107 – 109 of the TFEU and the Merger Regulation) in the light of the judgements of the Court of Justice of the European Union will be analysed. The relationship with regulation, even more complex due to the economic and financial crisis, will be discussed.
A distinction will be drawn between the rules addressed to private firms and the rules addressed to Member States, as interconnected instruments for ensuring an equal level playing field for undertakings. In the first part, the course will examine the provisions of EU competition law which apply to undertakings, regarding agreements and concerted practices, abuse of dominant position and mergers; close attention will be devoted to procedure and enforcement. The interplay between competition law and intellectual property law will also be analysed. Subsequently, the duties of the Member States in ensuring competition in the market will be discussed through the examination of the EU rules applicable to public undertakings, services of general economic interest and State aids.
Program
PART I - Introduction
Lecture 1
Competition and regulation
PART II – Substantive rules
Lecture 2
Market definition
Lecture 3
Restrictive practices
Lecture 4
Abuse of dominant position
Lecture 5
Abuse of dominant position II
Lecture 6
Mergers
PART III – Procedure and competences
Lecture 7
Procedures
PART IV - State Aids
Lecture 8
State aids
PART V – Sectors regulation
Lecture 9
The origin
Lecture 10
Sectors
PART VI – The evolution
Lecture 11
The interplay between competition and regulation
Lecture 12
Competition and regulation: open issues
Detailed Program: see inside (Syllabus)
Method
The aim of the course is to provide students not only an understanding of this area of law, but also to raise their ability to subject it to critical legal and economic analysis. Lectures will be carried out with the active participation of students, which will be required to prepare each class in advance: documents (legislation, judgements, doctrine etc.) will be made available through the University website.
Lectures, seminars, case studies.
Assessment
Final exam: both written and oral