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The notions of competition, potential competition and restriction in the case law: an excerpt (1)

By  |  January 29, 2020

By Pablo Ibañez Colomo, Chilling Competition

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    I have been writing quite a bit (here and elsewhere) on some fundamental notions of competition law (in particular on the very meaning of the word competition in the Treaty and that of restriction). These discussions have become quite topical, and it looks like they will get even more so in the coming months.

    What prompted me to write about them is not only that they are so important, but also a strange paradox: even though the case law of the Court has long been consistent and stable about the notion of competition and that of restriction, there are still some myths that refuse to go away. Claims that a restriction can be established independently of the economic and legal context, or claims that the counterfactual is not relevant at the ‘object’ stage are still heard, no matter how strong and consistent the evidence to the contrary…

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