By Abigail Hopper, J.D. Candidate 2018, Columbia Law School The European Court of Justice (ECJ) took a step toward clarifying the antitrust implications of loyalty rebates offered by dominant firms in its Intel decision released on September 6. The decision rejected the interpretation of the General Court (GC), which ruled that Intel’s loyalty rebates were illegal per se because they were conditioned on exclusivity. The ECJ clarified that although rebates conditioned on exclusivity were presumed to violate Article 102 TFEU, the presumption is just that – a presumption. A firm offering exclusivity rebates can rebut the presumption by showing evidence […]
antitrust
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Margherita Anchini | PhD Candidate, Sapienza Law School (Rome) 1. Introduction The role of the European Union in the sphere of public services has always been problematic. Before the creation of a European concept of public service, national authorities had wide discretion to define the concept, and they exercised this power for the purpose of removing particular sectors from the application of EU law (especially competition rules). If some space for national discretion persists, it is clearly limited. In an international context, the concept of public service is a convenient shorthand for utilities and welfare services. In light of the […]