Source: https://www.scribd.com/doc/94270712/Economic-Policy
Timestamp: 2017-09-25 13:39:54
Document Index: 530697437

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 32', 'Art 81', 'Art 81', 'Art 82', 'Art 82', 'Art 82', 'in fine', 'Art 81', 'Art 82', 'Art 81', '§ 45', 'Art 2', '§ 39', '§ 39', '§1', '§ 1', '§1', '§ 3', 'Art. 99', '§3', 'Art 81', 'Art 82', 'Art 81', '§3', '§3', 'Art 81', 'Art 82', 'Art.2', 'Art 81', 'Art 81', '§3']

Economic Policy | Competition Law | Cartel
Uploaded by Manu Miśra
Damien J. Neven1
(Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva and CEPR)
1. INTRODUCTION This paper aims to evaluate the influence that economic analysis has had on competition policy in Europe2 over the last twenty years. It uses evidence from the involvement of economists in competition investigations, as well as from the evolving content of competition decisions, to argue that there has been a significant increase in the economic sophistication of competition enforcement. However, at a number of points enforcement has appealed to economic reasoning in flawed or speculative ways. The paper discusses procedural reasons why this may have occurred, and evaluates current and potential reforms with an eye to ensuring this occurs less often in the future. Why does any of this matter? At the outset, it is worth emphasizing that the state of competition in a modern economy has an appreciable effect on economic efficiency – though, as we discuss below, the extent to which the state of competition can be determined by conscious policy is a matter of some debate. There is also an important constitutional issue surrounding competition policy. It is one of the few areas in which competence was ceded very early to the European institutions from the member
1 I would like to thank a number of lawyers and in particular D. Gerardin, P. Mavroidis, Nicolas Petit, A. Sykes and W. Wils for guidance on the legal framework, B. Bishop, C. Mayer and M. Williams for their insights on the market for economic consultants, K. Metha, L.-H. Röller, S. Evenett for useful comments and discussions, John Vickers and two anonymous referees for comments on a previous version of this paper and S. Baler and S. Boffa for excellent research assistance. The managing editor in charge of this paper was Paul Seabright. 2 We will focus on antitrust policy at the level of the European Union. Considering the antitrust policies of the member states is a book-length project which is beyond the scope of this Paper.
states, probably because it was considered (somewhat simplistically) to be a largely technocratic domain in which important political trade-offs were unlikely to be considered necessary. Yet in recent years there has been a tendency to delegate enforcement to the member states, largely because more and more member states have developed active and sophisticated enforcement regimes. There is no doubt that the evolution of economic reasoning in policy-making has played an important part in this interesting and unusual constitutional development. Judge Learned Hand once observed that "Possession of unchallenged economic power deadens initiative, discourages thrift and depresses energy…Immunity from competition is a narcotic and rivalry a stimulant to industrial progress." 3 Over the last twenty years, a significant body of evidence has accumulated which confirms his intuition, indicating that competition matters for economic efficiency and in particular for productive efficiency and incentives to innovate4. For instance, in one of the early papers in this literature, Nickell (1996) considered a sample of UK firms and evaluated whether their productivity growth was affected by competition. He measured the lack of competition by the importance of the profits accruing to firms. His estimates allow for a comparison of the productivity growth for firms at the 80th percentile and firms at the 20th percentile of the distribution of profits in the sample. The difference is a remarkable 4 percentage points, confirming that competition matters in providing adequate incentives to control cost and improve productivity over time. Very large effects have also been observed in transition economies that provide a natural laboratory to consider the effect of competition (see Djankov,and Murrell, 2002, for a survey). Ahn (2002) considered a large sample of studies on the link between competition and innovation and concluded that competition encourages innovative activities and has a significant sorting effect between efficient and less efficient firms over time. Whether competition policy, as currently practiced, stimulates competition is another, possibly more controversial, matter. Much of the evidence on this issue relates to the US and relies on accounts of particular cases in which decisions have had effects on competition and others where it is has not (see for instance, Baker (2003) for a vigorous case in favor of antitrust enforcement and Crandall and Winston, (2003) for a more skeptical view). Some insights can be gained from international cartels: the effects of the Vitamin cartel for instance appear to be stronger (in terms of price increases) in those countries without antitrust enforcement (relative to those with enforcement)5. Exploiting cross-country differences, Connor (2003) also finds that fines have a deterrent effect on cartels (but not one that will ever be sufficient to deter all of them) and that leniency programs increase the probability that cartels will be uncovered. The record of the EU in terms of the prosecution of cartels certainly confirms that effective cartels can be harmful with long lasting and substantial increases in prices6. The record also suggests that leniency programs may lead to prosecutions of cartels that may otherwise have remained secret and possibly in operation but of course, the very frequency of cartel prosecution also indicates that deterrence is currently far from sufficient. With respect to mergers, Duso, Neven and Röller (2007) use stock market reactions for the merging firms and their competitors to construct a benchmark against which EU decisions can be assessed7. They find that the EU prohibits very few mergers that the stock
United States v. Aluminum Co. of America,148 F.2d 416, 427 (2d Cir. 1945). See Evenett, 2005, for a survey (from which Judge Learned Hand’s statement is borrowed). 5 Clarke and Evenett (2003) 6 See Connor (2003) and the Annual reports of the European Commission. 7 The basic intuition behind this approach being that at least in some circumstances, mergers which harm consumers should benefit competitors (and vice-versa).
market perceives as pro-competitive (it makes few type I errors) but may still fail to prohibit quite a few mergers that the stock market perceives as anti-competitive (the frequency of type II errors may be greater)8. The implementation of competition rules is a core European policy. Competences with respect to anticompetitive agreements and the abuse of dominance were explicitly allocated by the founding treaty (respectively Article 85 and Article 86 of the Treaty of Rome, later renumbered as Article 81 and Article 82). It was conceived as an essential component of the internal market and unusual powers of enforcement were granted to the Commission (by delegation from the Council). In one of its early decisions9, the Court of Justice (ECJ) made this clear: “The treaty, whose preamble and content aim at abolishing the barriers between states,…, could not allow undertakings to reconstruct such barriers. Article 81(1) is designed to pursue this aim”. In addition, the Council adopted procedures in which implementation was centralized; regulation 1710 established that in order to obtain the benefit from an exemption under Article 81(3), firms had to notify their agreements to the Commission, which accordingly became a “Passage oblige”. Further competences for merger control were granted in 1989, through the merger regulation11 (ECMR), again with a centralized mechanism of implementation. Competition is also an area of in which competences are shared with the member states, which have developed their own antitrust rules. Jurisdiction is allocated by formal rules and has not been an important source of conflict. Finally, a few years ago, the Council replaced regulation 17 by a new set of rules which partly delegate the implementation of EU law to the competition authorities of the member states12. This delegation is not immune from incentives problems as member states have no clear interest in considering effects which take place outside their jurisdiction (see for instance, Neven and Mavroidis (2001)). Still, this architecture of enforcement is unusual among EU policies and as experience accumulates, its functioning may be a useful source of inspiration in other areas. The fact that economics has become more important in EU antitrust policy and practice since this Journal was first published is hardly controversial. One of the objectives of this essay will be to attempt some quantification of the relative importance of economic inputs in antitrust practice. Focusing on the fees earned by economic consultants, we will observe that the EU may be converging towards the US in terms of the relative importance of economics and law as inputs in cases. By comparison, economic resources at the level of the EU commission remain meager, and the asymmetry in resources between the authorities and the businesses they regulate is a cause for significant concern.. Evidence that economists have been hired increasingly to provide advice is merely an indication that parties and their legal advisors have found economists useful in order to prevail. It provides only limited evidence with respect to the role that economics, as a discipline, has played. The role that economic insights, in terms of theory and empirical evidence, have played can only be inferred from decisions and judgments and the reasoning that supports them, as well as the evolution of the legal framework
8 For the first few years of merger control, Neven, Nuttal and Seabright (1994) still find some case of possibly anti-competitive mergers that have been allowed because of political pressure. 9 Consten and Grundig vs Commission, case 56-58/64 10 EC Reg. 17/62 of 6 February 1962, OJ 21/02/62, pp 204-211 11 Council Regulation N° 4064/89 of 21 December 1989 12 EC Reg. 1/2003 of 16 December 2002, OJ L/1/1 of 4 January 2003.
in particular vertical agreements under Article 81. available from http://ec. The second area is a matter of process and procedure. has increasingly focused on effects. This essay will thus evaluate whether economic insights have had an effect on policy and case law and whether some insights have been neglected. The first is the implementation of Article 82. The process through which the concept of collective dominance has emerged has involved the annulment of a Commission decision. The way in which the Commission develops and uses economic analysis therefore deserves attention. and discuss this system of prooftaking at greater length in light of the literature. Hence. we will give references of the decisions and judgments only when they appear in the discussion for the first time.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 4 (including soft laws like guidelines) and policy statements. the proximity of competitors’ position and buyer power.eu/comm/competition/antitrust/others/Art. on the abuse of dominant positions. The Commission has however launched a debate in this area and has published a discussion paper which moves some way towards an effects based approach13.euroPa.html#14062006 14 In what follows. quantitative methods have become more important. 82 or the Treaty to exclusionary abuses.icle_82_review. and another one largely annulled on similar 17 grounds (GE/Honweywell ). Another two important merger prohibitions have been annulled14 by 15 16 the CFI (Tetra Laval/Sidel and Schneider/Legrand ). however. Both the Commission and the Courts seem to have played a role in enhancing the role of economic analysis. suggest some additional reforms and discuss the implementation of an alternative. adversarial. 13 DG Comp discussion Paper on the application of Art. it may only be a matter of time for economic analysis to have an stronger impact on the implementation of Article 82. in particular regarding the definition of the relevant markets. which find some foundation in economic analysis. two areas of concern. bidding markets. which is mostly inquisitorial with a prosecutorial bias. December 2005. 15 Case COMP/M2416 and judgments Case T-5/02 at the CFI and Case C-12/03 P at the Court of Justice 16 Case M 2283 and judgment C 380/01 17 Case COMP/M2220 and judgment Case T-210/01 . the analysis of the factors that determine effective competition has become more sophisticated. the assessment of competition has moved away from the formal notion of dominance towards effective competition. We observe that the reforms implemented by the Commission go in the right direction. We also observe more generally that the record of the Commission in Court may not be all that impressive. like the leniency programs. in which the Commission’s treatment of economic theories and evidence has been criticized. regime of proof taking. which has remained rather formalistic. We identify the system of proof taking implemented by the Commission. We develop a framework to think about antitrust procedures and identify the factors that will influence how theories and evidence are handled. There are. the concept of collective dominance has been progressively developed in terms of the theory of collusion in repeated interactions. enforcement procedures. We observe that economic analysis has had a strong impact in a number of areas: the analysis of agreements between firms. have been implemented.
Section 4 provides a framework to analyze anti-trust proceedings along five dimensions: namely. which have remained small over the period. Lexecon Ltd estimated that economic consultancy amounted to about 5 % of the total amount of fees (legal and economic) in 199527. 18 Appeal is somewhat of an abuse of language as EU courts formally only exercise a judicial review. UK related work accounts for the vast majority of the latter. They had to publish their turnover for this purpose. Section 7 summarizes our findings and discusses the scope for further reforms. As indicated by figure 124. Figures for some individual firms are confidential and cannot be reported individually.5 million in 1995. 19 I have been involved in a number of cases discussed in the Paper and in Part. In order to obtain the fees related to antitrust. 26 This growth gives a biased estimate of the growth of competition work in Europe as some firms (like Lexecon) started to generate very substantial fees from work outside Europe (in particular South Africa). Yamey. Traces of the role played by these academics (in particular B. RBB Economics. It is also interesting to consider the turnover of economic consultancy relative to the turnover for legal advice. With the implementation of the merger regulation in 1990. This turnover corresponds to EU related competition work but also to competition work in national jurisdictions. NERA. In what follows we will still use “appeal” for ease of reference. Lexecon (Ltd) was set up in January 1991 and up until the mid nineties. inspired by the US practice. the type of evidence which is deemed sufficient to meet the standard of proof (what elements of proofs should be considered as sufficiently telling to conclude that the required degree of confidence is reached?) and the standard of review (how is the proof assessed in case of appeal18?). C-116/85. It was undertaken 20 mostly by individual academics (there are references to some of them in early decisions like Soda/Ash 21 or Wood Pulp ). Section 5 characterizes EU procedures in terms of these dimensions. the standard of proof (what should be the degree of confidence in the proof?). Section 8 concludes19. My discussion of these cases relies on public information only. OXERA. it was assumed that each partner would generate the same amount of fees (an assumption which was validated with law firms) and partners undertaking mostly antitrust work were identified). C-117/85 and C-125/85 to C-129/85. Lexecon. for the following ten years. 2. TotalFina/Elf and Tetra Laval/Sidel. NERA opened an office in London in 1984 and London Economics was set up in 1986. Some of the figures have been interpolated on the basis of a constant growth. Section 2 attempts to provide some quantitative measure of the role that economists have played in European Antitrust. Airtours/First Choice. ECONOMIC INPUTS Economic advice was marginal in antitrust proceedings up until the late eighties. Section 3 discusses the economic insights that have had an effect on case law and policy. used economic concepts explicitly23. The turnover of independent academics. The market for EU related advice grew rapidly in the late nineties. Yarrow and D. London Economics. “where a single economist starves. G. LBE. reaching about £ 24 million in 200426. 27 The turnover of legal advice was estimated as follows: at the time.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 5 The paper is organized as follows. as the number of merger notifications (as well as other types of cases) grew but also following the preparation and implementation of the notice on market definition. which was probably significant in the earlier years relative to the turnover of commercial firms has not been considered. These . Frontier. have not been considered. in other words. Independent consultancy firms on the continent. EMI/Time Warner.icular Volvo/Scania. 20 Case T36/91 21 Joined cases C-89/85. OJ C 372 on 9/12/1997 23 The fact that a quantitative analysis was used for market definition in the high profile acquisition of Perrier by Nestlé in 1992 may also have been significant in alerting legal advisors to the potential of economic analysis in this regard. the scope of the decision (what has to be proven?). Section 6 discusses in more detail the system of proof taking in light of the law and economic literature. Others have been estimated on the basis of the number of staff. London Economics and NERA were the main suppliers with a total amount of fees around £ 2. demand for economic advice seems to have risen. two will make a living”. 25 This rapid growth is to some extent a consequence of the fact that different parties in a competition case often have different interests – or. 22 Notice on the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of Community competition law. C-114/85. total turnover grew25 at some 25-30% per year. law firms in the UK had to obtain insurance from a common industry scheme. This notice22. CRA and LECG. 24 The aggregate turnover has been obtained by adding the antitrust turnover of Lexecon. the system of proof taking (how is the proof gathered?). C-104/85. Morris) can be found in some UK cases.
The following amounts were spent by Airtours and claimed to the Commission (second column)32. which attempted to acquire First Choice and was prevented from doing so by the Commission. Airtours asked the CFI to order to Commission to pay and the Court had to rule on the amount that the Commission should repay. Table 1.5) in the last ten years. succeeded in its appeal in front of the CFI30 and the Commission was ordered to pay the cost that Airtours had incurred for the procedure. which however seems in line with the perception of some key players in the market. 29 Case IV/M 1524 30 T-342/99 31 The amount that the Commission spent on external economic advice is not publicly available. Legal and economic fees in Airtours (£) fees relate mostly to UK and European work (which was performed mostly from London at the time). Airtours. From this perspective. claiming that they were exaggerated. 28 Source : Lexecon. it does not consider the turnover of Brussels’s based law firm which were performing European work at the time (in particular the traditional Belgian law firms and the Belgian operations of US law firms). Turnover of economic consultancy firms (current £ million) 25 20 15 10 5 0 19 91 19 92 19 93 19 94 19 95 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 20 00 20 01 20 01 20 03 20 04 Source: see text If one assumes that legal fees have increased at the same pace as the number of cases (the annual flow of cases has increased by a factor of about 2.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 6 Figure 1. However. The Commission refused to pay the amounts that Airtours requested. Some evidence on the relative importance of economic and legal fees can also be gathered from the records of the Airtours case29. economic consultancy would now amount to about 15 % of the total amount of fees. Inc. Interestingly. 32 See § 32 of the decision – Case T-342/99 DEP . Accordingly legal and economic fees became public31. it would mean that the European market has converged with the US in this respect as 15 % appears to be a commonly accepted figure in the US28. This is only a rough guess. the figure of 5 % for economic fees is probably an upper bound.
RBB Economics. In this respect. Economic fees account for about 10% of the fees eventually reimbursed by the Commission.52 33 885. one would expect economic fees to be lower in a Court case than in the initial administrative procedure (in which evidence is gathered). The Court considered the various categories of fees. A survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers 33 for the International Bar Association lends some further support to this estimate. with Frontier and NERA being somewhat smaller34. domestic entry and split-ups increased the number of significant players over time. This particular case may thus confirm that a figure of 15% is not unrealistic. 36 Cross border deals may not be numerous but they generate fees in excess of the average.ibanet. Currently.asp?newsID=99 RBB economics was set up by former NERA consultants. economic consultancy seems to have followed the same path as legal advice. Lexecon had a market share that could be referred to as “dominant” at some point in mid nineties.00 (19 509. 34 33 .COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 7 Claimed Barrister Solicitors (expenses) Economic consultancy Academic economists Legal fees in Luxemburg Total Source: Case T-342/99 DEP 279 375. On the other hand. This fragmentation has also been observed in the US market and from this perspective the two markets seem to have converged as well. The market structure is also characterized by the presence of three firms with global (or at least transatlantic) operations35. These presumably include lobbyists as well as economists but one can presume that the bulk of external fees went to economists. The amount of economic input into the Airtours case is probably unusual (as the case revolved around some conceptual economic issues). LECG also grew markedly in 2004 as a number of consultants joined the firm from NERA.org/news/Newsitem.00 850 000. Entry by US firms (LECG and CRAI). both moves being triggered by clients with operations and antitrust filings across jurisdictions36.00 1 464 441.18) 281 051. the industry appears to be more fragmented with comparable markets shares (in the 20s) for CRA International (which took over Lexecon in the summer of 2005).55 Accepted 170 000 250 000 30 000 19 485 Fees charged by economists thus amount to about 21% of the total. The study which focuses on the cost of mergers and acquisitions found that about 20 % of the amount of legal fees was paid to other types of advisors.35 620.. 35 RBB Economics has a cooperation agreement with Competition Policy Associates (the consulting operation set up by Ordover and Willig) in the US so that Frontier Economics is only firm with a domestic focus at the moment. LECG. http://archive. The market structure has also changed over the last 15 years.
economic studies as well as the name of the main economic consultancy firms) .22 0.50 0. As the frequency of such cases varies from year to year (even among phase II cases). It also suggests however that the nature of competition among economic consultants differs from that among legal advisers. delicate competitive situations and large transactions). economic consultancy.71 0.25 0.27 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 0 0 9 Source : DG Comp and own calculations 37 This evidence was gathered by searching for key words (generic words. Table 2 shows the number of Phase II decisions taken every year since the implementation of the merger regulation and the number of published decisions in which reference is made to economic advice37. Table 2. This should enhance rivalry. it may explain the variance of economic advice around the trend. A closer look at the cases in which economic advice is referred to reveals that economists are involved in the more important cases (those involving new issues. like economic advice.17 0.11 0. for instance) but there are also some important variations around the trend.12 0. References to economic reports in phase II cases Year Phase II decisions (A) Phase decisions econ.29 0. (B) 0 5 2 1 10 2 2 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 34 II with B/(A-D) Unpublished phase II (D) 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 TOTAL 4 7 7 6 20 17 9 8 9 6 7 5 3 4 5 118 0.00 0.13 0.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 8 A more qualitative estimate of the importance of economics in antitrust can be obtained by considering the proportion of decisions in which explicit reference is made to economic advice. By comparison with lawyers.25 0.17 0.20 0. There is a positive trend (five-year averages increase.18 0.50 0. economists tend to compete for bigger but less numerous cases.
we have considered the main issues that antitrust authorities consider and tried to identify whether economic insights (in terms of theory.oecd. the discrepancy between the resources invested by the parties and those invested by the EU is very large. In order to do so. The economic insights that these new soft laws have taken on board will be discussed further below together with the evolution of the case law.2004 Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 38 39 See www. Only 20 have a PhD in economics and noless than 10 have a PhD with a specialization in industrial organization. The team of the Chief Competition Economist can also be compared with the economists working at comparable agencies in the US.01. Regulation 1/2003 (modernization) OJ L 1. 3. Table 3. as indicated by Röller (2005).euroPa. 27. OJ C 372 on 9/12/1997 Regulation (EC) No 2790/1999 on vertical agreements Discussion Paper on the application of Art.eu. ECONOMIC INPUT IN THE CASE LAW AND POLICY The fact that economists have been hired in procedures is only a signal that economics as a discipline may have had an impact on the case law. 13. 04. The position of Chief Competition Economist was only created in 2003 and his team consists of 10 economists. 05. Even if one assumes that only half of the time of those professionals is devoted to European work. The ratio of economists to lawyer has increased greatly over time.10.2003 Horizontal guidelines OJ C 31. December 2005 Guidelines on vertical restraints OJl C 291. There are currently 83 professionals with a background in economics at DG Comp38 and 184 with a background in law (hence roughly a ratio of 1 to 2). This can be compared with the (roughly) 150 professionals currently working in the economic consultancy firms considered above. This section attempts to gather some further evidence that economics has affected the case law and EU policy.pdf . empirical evidence and methodologies) have been used and whether some of them may have been neglected. The main developments are presented in table 3. we have considered the evolution of the legal framework including soft laws like guidelines and notices.int/comp/dgs/competition See www. according to Wilks and McGowan (1996).04. Main development in the legal framework Article 81 Article 82 Merger control Notice on the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of Community competition law.2000 Guidelines on the application of Art 81(3) OJ C 101. the ratio was 1 to 7 in the early 1990s.org/dataoecd/53/15/2406946. most economists do not undertake technical economic analysis. The Antitrust division of the US department of justice and the US Federal Trade Commission have together well over 100 professional economists39. Still. In order to document the influence of economic analysis.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 9 The amount of resources that DG Comp mobilizes for economic analysis can also be roughly assessed. 82 of the treaty to Merger regulation Reg 4064/89 exclusionary abuses.2004.02.
we have compiled a list of the cases that have been the subject of a specific commentary by the economic consultancy firms reviewed above (see Table 4).02.2003 Regulation (EC) No 772/2004 on technology transfer agreements Guidelines on technology licensing agreements OJl C 101. in particular. it does not appear that the list in table 4 has significant omissions. Considering only the articles with an economic focus.04.07.1996 Leniency notice II OJ C 45. Cases subject to a specific commentary by economic consultancy firms The list of cases appearing in table 4 has also been compared to the list of cases that have been subject to a focused article in the European Competition Law Review (since 1995). 18. 19. We have relied on two complementary sources. This may not matter if two firms were involved on opposite sides but we have no control on the proportion of cases in which this occurred40. First.2003 Source : DG Comp The evolution of the case law is harder to trace in a systematic manner.2001 Regulation 1/2003 OJ L 1. 04. This source is certainly not free of biases.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 10 Leniency notice I OJ C 207. Table 4. 27. The second list is broader but includes many articles dealing with legal issues only.01.2004 Regulations application 2658-9/2000 of Art on the to 81(3) specialization and R&D agreements Guidelines on the application of Art 81 to horizontal cooperation agreements OJ C 3 of 06. 40 . the decision whether to publish a comment is presumably dependent on whether the firm prevailed.01.
Sealink/B&I Holyhead Telepiù / NewsCorporation Tetra Laval/Sidel UPM-Kymmene/Haindl Vodafone Airtouch/ Mannesmann RBB _____ 11 Airtours/First Choice British Airways v Commission GE/Honeywell GE/Instrumentarium Michelin Microsoft P&O Princess (POPC). Coca Cola /Amalgamated Beverages. we have considered the main developments of economic analysis in the legal framework (presented in table 3) and the relevant case law (see table 4). Ernst & Young /KPMG GE/Honeywell Gencor/Lonrho Guinness / Grand Metropolitan Hoffman La Roche/Boehringer Mannheim Kimberly Clark/Scott Michelin Microsoft/Liberty Media/Telewest New Holland/Case Norske Skog/ Parenco/Walsum Oracle/PeopleSoft Price Waterhouse/ Coopers & Lybrand Procter & Gamble/VP Schickedanz Scott Paper / Kimberly-Clark.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE Lexecon /CRAI Air Liquide/BOC Airtours Boeing/McDonnell Douglas Boosey & Hawkes British Airways British Plaster Board / Saint-Gobain Carrefour/Promodes Coca Cola / Carlsberg. Evans and Graves (2005) also provide an evaluation of important developments during the Monti years with respect to mergers and was also a useful source to validate the content of table 5. Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises. For each topic. we have drawn a list of important developments and significant cases from our experience and knowledge of the case law. Table 5 presents our findings 42 . . Shell/DEA Tetra Laval/Sidel NERA Airtours/First Choice BA/Virgin Boeing / Hughes Coca Cola Enso / Stora General electric / Honeywell Guiness/Grand Metropolitan Kali und Salz AG and Mitteldeutsche Kali AG Kimberly-Clark / Scott Paper Michelin Oscar Bronner vs Mediaprint Pirelli / BICC Sea containers vs Sealink Others Ims Health Microsoft Visa I. 42 The question marks that appear in the table identify some issues on which there is apparent disagreement among the five economists involved in gathering this evidence. Each item in this table could be discussed at length and all items are not equally important. We also indicate when the analysis undertaken the Commission has been criticized as being flawed or speculative. this table is meant to summarize both the development of economic analysis and its implementation by the Commission. 41 I posted a survey on my website and sent an email to the 45 European competition economists that appear in the list of top 100 competition economists compiled by the Global Competition Review. I obtained only 4 substantial contributions. I obtained substantial comments and suggestions from four of them41. Hence. In order to validate this exercise I sought comments form a number of prominent competition economists. The following elements could be highlighted. This exercise involves a great deal of judgment (and our knowledge of the case law is not free of biases). II Second. asking them to fill in the survey.
DG Comp discussion Paper on the application of Art. Arguably the shift could have been even more pronounced .COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 12 First. Early on in the period. the Commission has still recently launched a debate on the application of Article 82. Over time. with a recognition of the pro competitive effects of some vertical agreements. from a focus on form towards a focus on effects. But here again. Council regulation 139/2004). this has been accompanied by new soft law. on the grounds that the Commission theory of coordination was unclear and that the evidence presented by the Commission was insufficient and used in a manner which was sometimes contradictory. which explicitly recognizes the efficiency rationale of many vertical agreements. Relevant markets were sometimes defined excessively narrowly without much consideration for competitive constraints.for instance. it emphasizes economic principles and recommends the use of the SSNIP (Small but Significant Non transitory Increase in Price by a hypothetical monopolist) test in line with the US practice. More sophisticated quantitative techniques have been implemented (for market definition and simulations of unilateral effects in mergers). With respect to Article 82. in particular the merger guidelines and a change in the wording of the substantive criteria which gives less prominence to the concept of dominance 43 . 44 From judgments on United Brands (case 27/76) and Hoffmann-La Roche (case 85/76) 45 See Paragraph 23. Of course.icular as the result of the creation or strengthening of a dominant position” (Art. The analysis of the competitive constraints faced by firms has also become much more sophisticated. citing decisions like Boosey and Hawkes or Sealink/B&I or the discussion in Neven et al (1994)) are quite telling in this respect. Second. the analysis of vertical agreements has shifted markedly at the turn of the century. this prevailed in the implementation of Art 82 but also to a lesser extent in the implementation of the merger regulation. 82 or the Treaty to exclusionary abuses. As mentioned earlier. potential competition or buyer power. 2. considering for instance the role of bidding markets. December 2005. Third. commentators may sometimes have disagreed about particular applications (as reflected in the table) but overall the trend towards a more sophisticated analysis of effective horizontal competition is impressive. . there is a striking evolution over time with respect to the analysis of competitive positions. the discussion Paper that it has published goes some 43 The wording of the substantive criteria has changed from concentration which “create or strengthen a dominant position as a result of which effective competition is impeded” to concentration which “significantly impede effective competition. Early commentaries (like Lexecon/CRA’s competition memo of April 1995. the definition of the relevant market has been clarified. The prospect for the coordination of behavior (“collective dominance”) has been clarified and firmly rooted in the theory of repeated games. in Part. strategic barriers to entry. durability. The pro-competitive element of some practices as well as the efficiency benefits that may stem from them has been largely ignored. the evolution is remarkable. firm’s competitive position was considered with a focus on dominance and dominance was often related to structural indicators like market shares. the Commission and the Courts have focused mostly on form instead of effects. Progress with respect to the analysis of competitive constraints under Article 82 has however been much less clear. the application of exclusionary theories (foreclosure) is an area in which less progress has been made. In the area of merger control. its customers and ultimately of the consumers44”) in terms of market power45. The recent discussion Paper on the reform of Article 82 however proposes to (re-)interpret the classical definition dominance (the “power to behave to an appreciable extent independently of its competitors. Interestingly however. the major shift in policy in this area came through a Court judgment (Airtours/First Choice) which annulled a Commission’ decision.
The Commission has recently published a notice on the application of Article 81(3) which however fails to make sufficient distinctions between horizontal and vertical agreements and does not provide a framework to consider the sources of efficiencies. in terms of decisions. The Commission has been considering them. even in the context in non horizontal mergers. soft laws and reforms of the statute.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE 46 _____ 13 way toward an effects based enforcement and recent cases like Microsoft focus on effects and considers sophisticated theories of foreclosure. Fourth. the policy has evolved: early in the implementation of the merger regulation. GE/Honeywell and Schneider/Legrand) in which the Commission has mishandled economic theory and evidence. Second. efficiencies were sometimes considered as an offence rather than as making a merger more acceptable. two conclusions emerge. the Court has annulled the Commission’s analysis of foreclosure (in Tetra Laval/Sidel and GE/Honeywell). and even then. theories and evidence are increasingly used by the Commission. There has been some suspicion early in the period that Article 81(3) may have been used in some instances in order promote industrial policies. Overall. Tetra Laval/Sidel. In both instances. Neven et al. economic insights. even if progress is more impressive in some areas than others. the Court has exposed at least four instances (Airtours. The revision of the merger regulation in 2004 has made it clear that efficiencies could be taken into account. The Commission has also been pro-active in these developments. With respect to merger control. so that arguments regarding efficiencies may have been taken at face value47. 46 47 Case 37/792 See for instance. it was not clear whether efficiencies could be taken into consideration. First. With respect to merger control. (1998) . the analysis of efficiencies is also an area in which less progress has been made. the Court failed to be convinced by the exclusionary theories and the elements of proofs that the Commission had put forward.
Oracle/People Soft51) Implementation : the procedure may not always have allowed for a proper validation of the simulation models when they were introduced (Volvo/Scania) . September 2000 59 Comp M 2876 60 Comp M 2816 61 Comp M 1672 62 Comp M 1016 . i. Schneider/Legrand) has been emphasized without clear justification. Philip Morris/ Papastratos49. This may lead to excessively narrow geographic markets. the analysis of effective has become much more sophisticated. Piaggio/Aprilia56) Dynamic aspects of competition have been increasingly considered (for instance in Hoffman La Roche/Boehringer Mannheim57) The analysis of entry includes potential competition (Air Liquide/Boc. This may however be misleading to the extent that it may suggest that any market can be neatly characterized in terms of one or the other model. The definition of the geographic market (which emphasized the conditions of competition) market is however different from that of the products market (which emphasizes demand/supply substitution). For instance the significance of credible bidders may have been overplayed (PW/Coopers62)? The competitive pressure from entry (in the absence of barriers) in new markets may have been underestimated in Vodafone/Mannesman63 Impact of non-price issues of importance to consumers. The importance of the rivalry induced by bidding markets may have been exaggerated. A more balanced evaluation of the models (allowing for some crossexamination) has been organized in later proceedings (Oracle/People Soft). Competitive analysis The early case law relied on dominance and dominance was often assessed in terms of market shares. Market power / effective competition Market definition The notice on relevant market focuses on competitive constraints and adopts the SSNIP test. Developments of entry in new markets has been anticipated taking into account potential barriers (for instance network effects in Microsoft/Liberty Media/Telewest58) Assessment of exit conditions and the failing firm defense has involved a careful examination of the competitive counterfactual (News Corp/Telepiu59 and Andersen/EY60 ) Implementation : The fact that firms may have “dominant” positions across several geographic markets (Volvo/Scania 61 . Merger simulations techniques have used both by parties and the Commission (for instance in Volvo/Scania48. The competitive pressure exercised by the stock of service embodied in durable goods on new products has been considered (Boeing/Mc Donnell53 and New Holland/Case54) The pattern of substitution and the competitive relationship between products has been considered in details (GE/Instrumentarium55. Quantitative methods are increasingly used (first in Nestlé/Perrier in the early 90s and then routinely) Implementation : captive sale (sales within firms) tend to be excluded from the relevant market. quality. variety. In particular : The competition induced by tendering for contracts (bidding markets ) has been introduced. Lagardère/Natexis/VUP50. Tetra Laval/Sidel). but soon after integrated in Pirelli/BICC52 and widely used thereafter. This approach may be overly mechanistic (Shell/DEA) Unilateral effect in merger control The horizontal merger guidelines (2004) provide a clear framework to analyze unilateral effects. It was neglected in Boeing/Mc Donnell. The guidelines make a direct reference to economic models (Cournot and Bertrand). Development of economic analysis in the legal framework and case law 1. and convenience (which may offset or add to anti-competitive pricing effects) may have been neglected 48 49 50 Comp M1672 Comp M 3191 Comp M 2978 51 Comp M 3216 52 Comp M 1882 53 Commission decision 97/816/EC 54 Comp M 1571 55 Commission decision 2004/322/EC 56 Comp M 3570 57 Comp M 950 58 Notification withdrawn – investigation discussed in Lexecon Competition Memo. Over time.e.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 14 Table 5.
The Commission has introduced incentives for parties to act as whistleblower to undermine collusive agreements (leniency notices – see table 3). The CFI has clarified that structural links were not necessary. C-116/85.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 15 Buyer power The analysis of buyer power has rightly focused on the mechanism that will allow buyers to inflict damages on suppliers (Enzo/Stora64) Implementation : The Commission has appealed to a “Spiralling effect” in Carrefour/Promodes65 such that buyer power is self-reinforcing which may not have been properly validated. This may be interpreted as stemming from excessive confidence on the identification of behavior form economic models (Wood Pulp . Implementation : The Commission has become sophisticated in its discussion of coordination. (?) 2. This standard still prevails. . The guidelines may not recognize sufficiently the free-rider rationale for territorial protection and imposes a harsh treatment on restrictions to intra brand competition when inter brand competition is weak. preliminary ruling by the CFI) and a recognition of the pro-competitive effects of agreements involving small firms The modernization regulation has introduced a direct effect for Article 81. discussed by the guidelines. which emphasize effects rather than form. The list of factors. leniency mostly reduces the incentive to collude and should not be observed in equilibrium) Quantitative methods have been largely neglected as tools to test for the presence of collusion effects and evaluate damages Co-ordinated effects in merger control The early case law was not firmly grounded in the theory of coordination. they fail to acknowledge that such agreements may also be procompetitive. These schemes are supported by economic analysis (even if in economic models. EMI/Time Warner72) There has been no development of empirical tools to consider the likelihood of co-ordinated effects arising postmerger 3. For instance regarding the discussion of capacity coordination (UPM-Kymmene/Haindl69 and Norske/Skog/Parenco/Walsum70) The link between collusion and the degree of asymmetry in market share or capacity has however been neglected (Nestlé/Perrier71. The approach was refined in the horizontal merger guidelines. Agreements Horizontal There has been a progressive (but slow) move away from a formalistic approach toward an economic effects-based assessment of Article 81 (1) (Wouters73. C-117/85 and C-125/85 to C-129/85 67 Case Comp M 308 and Court cases C-68/94 & C-30/95 68 Case Comp M 619 and judgment T 102/96 69 Comp M 2498 70 Comp M 2499 71 Comp M 190 72 Comp M 1852 73 C-309/99. If the guidelines recognize efficiency benefits stemming from vertical agreement. relative to the effect of the merger. which may favor coordination may not also not be very robust. The guidelines may however put an excessive emphasis on the characteristics of the market. C-104/85. C-114/85. Court decision66). 63 64 65 Comp M 1795 Comp M 1225 Comp M 1684 66 Joined cases C-89/85. The Commission introduced some confusion in Airtours. The residual reliance on form implies that different vertical restraints with similar effects are treated differently. for assessing the likelihood of coordination. using language suggesting that joint dominance was not clearly associated with co-ordination but rather with general oligopolistic coordination. Some emphasis was given to the presence of structural links among firms (Kali/Salz67. The theory of collusion in repeated games was affirmed by the Court in Airtours. The guidelines emphasize market power as a necessary condition for anti-competitive effects but rely on arbitrary thresholds to clear some agreements or introduce strong presumptions of illegality. Gencor/Lonrho68). Vertical The Commission has introduced a new block exemptions regulation (1999) and guidelines (2000). Collusion Article 81 The Court has imposed a very high standard of proof with respect to the inference of collusion from firms’ behavior.
GE/Honeywell) This second observation reveals that anti-competitive theories and evidence had not been properly evaluated at the time of the decisions. In the early eighties. the early case law relied on form. which suggests that procedures to ensure this evaluation may not have been adequate at the time. the Commission has developed more sophisticated dynamic theories (which emphasize network effects for instance). Efficiencies in non horizontal mergers (pricing and contractual efficiencies) have sometimes been ignored – e. Implementation : too much credence may have been given to efficiency justifications (possibly in the early case law – see e.g. Night Services75) Merger regulation Initially it was unclear whether there is an efficiency defense and there are even some cases of efficiency offences in the early case law (see e. In Microsoft. until the discussion Paper on the reform of Art 82 (2005 – see table 3).g.814 Case IV/34. Grant and Neven (2005). BA/Virgin81) With respect to predation. both the Commission and the Court have failed to recognize that discriminatory pricing and rebates in oligopoly may not be anti-competitive. For instance.g.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 16 Two sided markets Insights from theory have not had much influence (Visa I and II) 4. there is an emphasis on form rather than effects and a failure to recognize genuine efficiency and competition benefits from practices that can have exclusionary effects. Ford/VW74. The latter may not make sufficient distinctions between vertical and horizontal agreements and does not provide guidance on some issues (hold up/free rider problems). in particular merger control decisions. ATT/NCR76) but also later (Guinness/Grand Med77) The revision of the merger regulation (2004 – see table 3) has however clarified that efficiencies can be taken into account. (Michelin II80. They have been extensively considered in some recent cases like PG/Gillette79 5. Aol/Time Warner78 especially in the earlier case law. Efficiencies Article 81(3) The Commission has introduced a new block exemption for R&D agreements and a notice on the application of 81(3). could be affected by outside pressures from the companies involved and the member states (possibly acting as agents for the 74 75 76 Case IV/33. models of anticompetitive foreclosure through tying have been used out of context and without proper evidence83 (Tetra Laval/Sidel. More generally. the Commission may have failed to recognize their consequences for the realization of efficiencies. Exclusion Art 82 With respect to tying. Implementation : In imposing partial divestitures. there was some concern that decisions. This observation should also be considered in a wider perspective. . the literature on financial predation has been largely neglected Merger regulation Dynamic models of tying have been developed (Aol/Time Warner82) Implementation : According to CFI judgments.600 Case IV/ M0050 77 Case COM M938 78 Cae M 1845 79 Case M 3732 80 Case T-203/01 81 Commission Decision 2000/74/EC and Court judgment T 219/99 82 Case COMP M1845 83 See also Alborhn. Neven (2006) 84 See for instance Ahlborn (2002). Evans and Padilla (2003). This was indeed the reaction of many observers at the time of these decisions84.
The difference can possibly be related to the nature of the evidence brought forward in these procedures: as discussed above.58 Source: Court case law and own calculations The Commission’s record with respect to Article 82 is striking in absolute terms but also relative to the other provisions. which involves the development of economic theories and evidence. because most of Commission’s analysis was annulled. Wils (2004) suggests that the high frequency of annulment in this period is also associated with the imposition of stricter procedural requirements (like rights of access to files). Table 6. we considered all cases that have been appealed to the CFI since 1994 and computed the proportion of cases in which the Commission prevailed.75 0. . Procedures at the time were thus not immune to capture by corporate interests. the proportion of such marginal case may not be all that high as the parties will anticipate this and may prefer not to appeal. This is documented for instance in Neven et al (1994) (see also Lexecon Competition Memo – April 1995). GE/Honeywell was classified as a case where the Commission did not prevail. Merger regulation 0. Results are presented in table 6. 12 were annulled or fines were reduced (sometimes annulled) for all companies. the success rate of the Commission in (infra-marginal) cases in which the parties believe that the 85 The same applies to some extent with respect to the ECMR. it may be useful to consider a wider sample such as the record of the Court’s rulings on Commissions’ decisions that have been appealed. 4 four were upheld. For instance. of which 18 had been judged at the time of his study.98 0. To avoid any bias arising from the consideration of just a few cases. (1998) observe that the reduction in fines is very often associated with the imposition of a higher standard of proof (such that the CFI finds that the Commission’s evidence is insufficient to justify the fines that it has imposed). 86 Of course. In a number of cases. He found that 24 decisions had been appealed. In two cases. He interpreted this finding as providing “remarkable evidence of the Commission’s poor record in reaching decisions imposing fines”. Article 82 has remained focused on form. as there is otherwise no clear benchmark to evaluate the absolute level of the success rate with respect to the merger regulation and Article 81.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 17 companies). Neven et al. fines were reduced for some companies only. in particular regarding Art 81. Hence. Montag (1996) considered the 29 decisions imposing fines in excess of 3 million ECU since Regulation 17 came into force until 1996. The Commission’s record at the CFI Success rate Article 81. In order to complement the evidence of Montag (1996). Article 82. Such differences in success rates are consistent with the view that the scope for disagreement is greater when economic theory and evidence are important. the evaluation of whether the Commission prevailed involves a fair amount of judgment and the results should be considered as indicative85. one would expect the Commission to prevail in most “marginal cases”86. despite the fact that the prohibition was affirmed. Out of those. given the deference that the Court gives to the Commission’s analysis (as discussed below). This is probably the most important insight from table 6. whereas the merger regulation and increasingly Article 81 (at least with respect to vertical agreements) are focusing on effects.
a prosecutor and a defense lawyer). authorizations (positive decisions) or both. In the inquisitorial system. Even if most of the elements discussed here have been analyzed separately. namely the scope of the decision (what has to be proven?). in favor and against the decision that it is taking.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 18 Commission’s analysis was biased possibly as a result of a systemic problem is likely to be lower than those observed in table 6. a success rate around 60 % may not impress. 4. The next section thus attempts to provide a framework to think about the relevant characteristics of procedure from a law and economic perspective in order to investigate the potential weakness of EU procedures. The choice of a screening mechanism and associated types of decisions also expresses some “prior” regarding the likelihood that the conduct at stake is unlawful. the standard of proof (what should be degree of confidence in the proof?). in other words what needs to be proven. the law and economics literature distinguishes between two alternative systems of proof taking. the entity (whether a person or an institution) which takes the decision is also responsible for gathering the evidence. proof taking is delegated to opposing parties (typically. This entity is meant to gather all relevant facts and analysis. . A system of direct effect and negative decisions may for instance express the expectation that the conduct is less likely to be harmful than a system of notification involving both positive and negative decisions. 87 To the best of our knowledge. namely the inquisitorial and adversarial systems. In the adversarial system. the legal framework will typically specify the scope of the decision that has to be made. the type of evidence which is deemed sufficient to meet the standard of proof (what elements of proofs should be considered as sufficiently telling to conclude that the required degree of confidence is reached?) and the standard of review (how is the proof assessed in case of appeal?) 87. Seen in this light. In particular. By contrast. the system of proof taking (how is the proof gathered?). THE PROCEDURE – A PESPECTIVE FROM LAW AND ECONOMICS Five important features of the legal framework towards competition enforcement can be highlighted. In this respect. there is no encompassing model of competition decisions in the law and economics literature. The scope of decisions is related at least in part to the screening mechanism that is used to detect potentially illegal conduct. A notification system will naturally require both positive and negative decisions. (ii) How is the evidence gathered? Second. but this remains highly judgmental. a legal system with direct effect may only require negative decisions. their interactions have not been extensively discussed. either in law or economics and sometimes in formal models. the procedures will specify how evidence is gathered. the legal framework will indicate whether decisions should take the form of prohibitions (negative decisions). (i) What has to be proven? First. The entity making decisions does not take initiative with respect to evidence and takes a decision on the basis of the evidence presented by both parties.
the opposite polar model of adversarial proceedings. The standard of a “balance of probability” (or “preponderance of the evidence”) is often used in civil proceedings. in a formal sense. 89 Instead of specifying the scope of decisions as well a degree of confidence. (iii) What degree of confidence in the proof? Third. The alternative systems of evidence-gathering (an economic construct) are closely associated with the allocation of the burden of proof (a legal concept). Various standards are used in legal proceedings. the standard is however typically not specified in the statutes but emerges from the case law. one can wonder about the relevance of the distinction between inquisitorial and adversarial systems with respect to antitrust proceedings. the “judge” is responsible for its findings in both systems (despite the fact that the evidence on which he will base its decision is gathered in different ways) and 88 Procedures handled by the Federal Trade Commission are also adversarial but also involve a combination of prosecutorial and decision making roles for the FTC Commission (this is further discussed below). A system of authorization with the same standard allows type II errors with the same probability89. This can be thought of as the degree of confidence that is required in order to make a finding. the expected value of a merger could be seen as the probability that is uncompetitive multiplied by welfare that would obtain if it is. a truly inquisitorial system in which the antitrust agency plays the role of an impartial but active judge seeking evidence is hardly feasible. In the field of antitrust. This insight will be useful to characterize EU procedures.7 allows type I errors with a probability of 0. . This alternative framework (discussed in Heyer (2005)) has the advantage of considering the value of outcomes and not only the probability that that is attached to them. the party that would play the role of plaintiff may not be easy to identify.3. In other words.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 19 The dichotomy between adversarial and inquisitorial systems may be excessively sharp. a burden of proof only takes effects with respect to outside review and the entity taking the decision bears the burden of proof for its findings in case of appeal. By contrast. one can think of procedures in a continuum from adversarial to inquisitorial in terms of the (decreasing) degree of control that the parties have over the procedure. We will refer to this as the inquisitorial model with prosecutorial bias. The requirement that a finding should be right “beyond reasonable doubt” is associated with a much greater degree of confidence and is typical of criminal proceedings. The framework in which these polar models are discussed involves two parties that have opposing interest (a plaintiff and defendant) and sufficient incentives to defend these interests. the evaluation of any particular practice could be undertaken in terms of its expected value. they may also be numerous (as in the case of final consumers) and they may face serious free-rider problems in engaging in collective action. for instance. It is thus probably inevitable that the antitrust agency as decision maker will make up for the relative absence of well organized plaintiffs and act to some extent as a prosecutor. which needs to acts as plaintiff in front of a federal court (which takes the enforcement decisions)88. The combination between the scope of decisions that have to be made and the standard of proof determines the weight that is given to both types of errors. In the antitrust field. Accordingly. a system of negative decisions with a standard of proof such that the probability that the decision is right is at 0. For instance. More generally. is entirely feasible. the legal system will specify the standard of proof. in which the antitrust agency acts as a plaintiff in front of a passive judge. This is the model adopted in the US in the context of proceedings handled by the Department of Justice. plus the probability that it not multiplied by the welfare that is obtained it is not. As suggested by Parisi (2001).
each party bears the burden of proving the findings that it advances. at least in a restricted number of areas. If effective competition is absent. S. To the extent that this involves making particular claims. As Lord Hoffman famously said in Rehnam. 90 California Dentists Association. by the judge. If those other facts are observed. a full rule of reasons may be dependent on other factors like the extent to which additional markets can be foreclosed. the parties involved merely respond to the request and bear no burden of proof. the conglomerate effects could be considered as neutral unless effective competition is substantially reduced in one market. a full rule of reason will apply. In a purely inquisitorial system. (iv) What evidence will ensure the required degree of confidence? The statement of a particular standard of proof. More generally. Of course. The truncated rule of reason that was recently developed by the Supreme Court in the US90. begs the really difficult question. can be thought of as a contingent rule. such that the mere observation of a particular set of (easily identifiable) facts can be considered (ex ante) as sufficient evidence to meet the standard of proof that is required to make a finding. It is the evaluation. A richer set of contingent decisions could also be considered in the form of structured rules of reasons and have sometimes been advocated (for instance.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 20 the institution in charge of appeal will consider whether the judge has met the standard of proof. of whether the parties have met the standard of proof that will be considered in the case of appeal. the investigation first considers the presence or absence of effective competition before considering the effect of particular practices). This is the fourth characteristics. namely the question of what particular body of evidence can be considered to be sufficient to consider that it meets the required standard. a purely inquisitorial system is a bit of an abstraction and parties often have some control over the procedure. The judge will then decide whether the parties have met the standard of proof with respect to the findings that they advance. Ct. the investigation of a case may be structured in terms of sequential findings (so that for instance. facts that are normally considered to be sufficient to meet the required standard of proof (per se) can be considered are insufficient if another set of facts is observed. 2004. But as mentioned above. “more convincing evidence is required to conclude that is was more likely than not that the sighting of an animal in a Park was a lion that it would to satisfy the same standard of probability that the animal was a dog”. For instance. the amount and quality of evidence that needs to be adduced in order to make a finding will depend on priors that are informed by economic principles and accumulated evidence. The alternative of a “rule of reason” is effectively the recognition that there is a priori no set of easily identifiable observations that are sufficient to meet the required standard of proof. or Neven (2005)). In the case of an adversarial system. 1999 . A per se rule is effectively a threshold on the amount of evidence that is required. evidence to make a finding that unilateral effects are pro-competitive will have to be more convincing that the evidence necessary to make a finding that than the conglomerate effects are pro-competitive. For instance. The (legal) concept of a per se rule can be considered in those terms. however important. according to this approach. parties will naturally bear the burden of proving their assertions. Most legal systems in the field of antitrust further specify the type of evidence that can be considered sufficient to meet a particular standard of proof. Evans and Padilla. Such “burden of proof” is however loose in the sense it is never formally evaluated.
to take its decision with the required amount of confidence. so that their internal consistency can be hard to verify without a formal model. the legal system will specify a standard of review.e. economic analysis of effects involves the construction of a theory of the case and a validation of this theory. That is also to say that whatever economic analysis is presented in a case should be closely checked and evaluated. should not be underestimated. Many alternative theories can be constructed and may involve sophisticated and involved reasoning. Some potential effects are easy to identify in principle given the role of economic analysis. i. Table 7. AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE EU LEGAL FRAMEWORK In this section. Besides their internal consistency. This fifth dimension is of course essential in order to provide adequate incentives for the entity making the initial decision to meet the standard of proof that it is meant to observe. for instance a failure in the system of proof taking or a strengthening of the standard of proof or standard of review may lead to such outcomes.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 21 (v) How is the proof evaluated on appeal? Fifth. This section will also try to identify. Art 82 ECT and the merger regulation in terms of the five characteristics outlined above and discuss whether these characteristics are adequate from the perspective of handling economic evidence. Both the construction and evaluation of the theory and the evidence may involve sophisticated techniques (mostly borrowed from the fields of applied game theory and econometrics). namely Art 81 ECT. we will characterise the EU legal framework along the five dimensions just identified and discuss (in the light of the literature) whether particular features of this framework might help understand why the Court has found that economic theories and evidence were inadequate in Commission’s decision. 5. more generally. to be applied by the institution which will make a decision in case of appeal. Key characteristics are summarized in table 7. we characterize the main EU instruments. unlike the mere analysis of facts. Our discussion focuses on the most important elements. the validation of these theories involves the evaluation of their robustness to slight changes in assumption and most importantly an evaluation of whether they fit with the facts of the case and an evaluation of the magnitude of the effect that they predict. The threat of a meaningful review is an important mechanism to ensure that the entity making the initial decision will not be easily captured. These methods impose a strong disciplines on the professional economists using them but the scope for presenting misleading analysis. Some key characteristics of EU procedures Article 81 Article 82 Merger control 91 See Röller (2005) . In the next section. Particular features of economic analysis are also worth mentioning in this respect91. some of the strengths and weaknesses of the EU framework. whether by neglect or design.
1. At § 45 of the judgment: “The Court of First Instance did not err in law when it set out the tests to be applied in the exercise of its power of judicial review or when it specified the quality of the evidence which the Commission is required to produce in order to demonstrate that the requirements of Art 2(3) of the Regulation are satisfied. that does not mean that the Community Courts must refrain from reviewing the Commission’s interpretation of information of an economic nature. The CFI further insisted that the evidence brought forward by the Commission should be “convincing”. The Commission appealed this judgment partly on the ground that the CFI had raised the standards. it would seem that the standard of proof cannot be any lower94. the Commission See also Bailey (2003) for a discussion of the standard of proof with respect to mergers. In Tetra Laval/Sidel.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 22 Finding that a concentration does or does not restrict effective competition Inquisitorial system with prosecutorial bias and a degree of political control Greater degree of control for the merging parties More than balance of probabilities No Scope Proof taking Standard of proof Set of sufficient facts (per se) Finding that an agreement restricts competition Finding that an agreement does or does not entail efficiency benefit Inquisitorial system with prosecutorial bias and a degree of political control Odd allocation of the burden of proof with respect to 81(3) No less than for mergers Horizontal price fixing. market sharing cartel Finding that a firms has a dominant position and abuses it Inquisitorial system with prosecutorial bias and a degree of political control No less than for mergers Dominant position with market share > 50? % Pricing below avoidable cost Id ? Standard of review Id ? Manifest error Facts. The Court however confirmed the approach of the CFI suggesting that the economic developments should be “plausible” 93 . what standard should be applied in competition cases has not been considered at great length by the Court until recent cases92. inter alia. This naturally raises the accountability that the Commission is subject to and enhances the credibility of the standard of proof that it is meant to respect 95 . 95 The Court indicated at § 39 : “Whilst the Court recognises that the Commission has a margin of discretion with regard to economic matters.” 94 According to Legal (2005). the CFI held that the Commission should prove that the merger will have anticompetitive effects “in all likelihood”. Importantly. establish whether the evidence relied on is factually accurate. The standard of review has not been discussed much either. reliable and consistent but also whether 93 92 . Not only must the Community Courts. § 39 of the judgment is also drafted in such a way that the Court’s statement on the burden of proof applies to all competition cases. Given the latter are ex post and the former ex ante. These pronouncements suggest that the standard of proof may be stricter than a mere balance of probabilities (see Vesterdorf (2004)). One can wonder whether the standard established in this merger case can be applied in Article 81 or Article 82 cases. Standard of proof and review As discussed by Vesterdorf (2004). reasoning inferences and 5. The CFI and the Court have recently indicated that the scope of their review should not be restricted to mere factual issues but should also include an examination of the Commission’s reasoning (including economic reasoning) and its inferences. which is surprising given the importance that this standard has in order to provide adequate incentives to the Commission.
matters were less clear. T-2490. 81 §1. the matter is different. upon recommendation from the Commissioner in charge of competition. Scope of decisions and proof taking 5. First. 97 In addition. The ultimate decision is taken by the college of Commissioners.2. the ultimate decision is not taken by the case team (supervised by its hierarchy). However. it would correspond to what has been described above as an inquisitorial system with a (inevitable) prosecutorial bias. the Commission seems to have misjudged both the standard of proof that it had to meet and the standard of review that would apply in case of appeal. it will not take a decision97 and the agreement will be lawful98. the decision not to open a case with respect to anti-competitive practices cannot be effectively challenged in Court (Auto Mec. only the Commission (and Courts) can take both positive and negative decisions. the system is also not purely inquisitorial to the extent that firms involved can exert some control over the procedure: for instance. If the Commission does not observe that an agreement falls under the conditions laid out in § 1. the Commission cannot be forced to show that a practice is not anticompetitive. With respect to Art. agreements had to be notified and the Commission did grant quasi positive decision with respect to Art. they can request meetings with the case team and submit documents making particular claims. so that there is no “presumption” that agreements entail efficiency benefits. p II-150). In other words. Second. 5 or regulation 1/2003). The case team (supervised by its hierarchy within DG Competition) has a large degree of control over the investigation of the case. 5. the Commission takes only negative decisions with respect to Article 81 §1. one would expect the Commissioners to refrain form interfering with the decisions proposed by their colleagues in specialized areas (as they would anticipate that they may be the subject of interference with respect to their own portfolios). Such a review is all the more necessary in the case of a prospective analysis required when examining a planned merger with conglomerate effect. 81§ 3.1. The Commission also takes positive as well as negative decisions with respect to the application of this provision but it does not have to take positive decisions (the exception applies directly)99. The system of proof taking with respect to Article 81 involves the following elements. Accordingly. Relevant authorities in member states can only take negative decisions (see Art. ECR 92. 98 Note that before the reform of the implementation regulation. there are at least two important qualifications. 81(3). Interference is that evidence contains all the information which must be taken into account in order to assess a complex situation and whether it is capable of substantiating the conclusions drawn from it. This equilibrium of mutual deterrence ensures that Commissioners maintain control over their areas of competence. which as discussed above replaced Regulation 17/1961. This development may explain in part why economic evidence has sometimes been considered by the court as having been mishandled.2. 81(1). This suggests that the Commission has been operating with an expectation about the standard of review which was biased downwards. This body has no particular competence in competition matters. .” 96 Regulation 1/2003. p II-22501992. it may have satisfied itself with unduly low standards of proof. in the form of comfort letters. From that perspective. In order to obtain the benefit of Art. 99 Interestingly however.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 23 challenged the formulation of the standard of review adopted by the CFI and lost. Article 81 Since the reform of the implementation measures96. Bemin T-11492 ECR 95. Its provisions are formulated as an exception of the prohibition expressed by Art.
These instances may be rare and the threat of being overturned may not be sufficiently strong to affect the behavior of the inquisitors significantly (at least in the field of antitrust. This conclusion resonates with the observation made above that unconvincing efficiency claims have been accepted under Article 81(3). The new implementation regulation (which crystallizes past practice in this respect100) makes it clear that parties bear the burden of proof with respect to Article 81 §3 101. from that perspective. the Commission needs to find that the proposed concentration is compatible with the common market (possibly with amendments) and allow it. 101 100 . The imbalance of this procedure in terms of proof taking may thus be one reason behind this apparent overextension. Merger control The implementation of the merger regulation involves a system of notification and the Commission has to take either a positive or a negative decision. The Commission thus plays the role which is that of a “judge” in an adversarial system in so far as it delegates proof taking and does not seek to assemble evidence. it is best characterized as inquisitorial with a degree of political control.2. it is not a truly adversarial system either. the burden of proving an infringement of Art 81(1) or of Art 82 of the Treaty shall rest on the party of the authority alleging the infringement. As discussed above. 5. Assume for the sake of argument that the balance of probability is 70 %. There is no delegation of proof taking to a party seeking to show that efficiency benefits are limited (there is no prosecutor). state aids being possibly different). recommendations from the Commissioner in charge of competition have sometimes not been followed by the College. The undertaking or association of undertaking claiming the benefit of Art 81(3) of the Treaty shall bear the burden of proving that the conditions of that paragraph are fulfilled”. the system of proof taking is not formally inquisitorial. By comparison with the legal framework of Article 81. The system of proof taking with respect to Article 81 §3 deserves particular attention. it suggests that the Commission gives up the control of the procedure when it comes to the evaluation of Article 81§3 and acts as a “passive” judge which merely examines whether the efficiency claims made by the parties deserve an exemption. 102 See Vesterforf (2004). This is a bit surprising. so that a decision can only be taken if the probability that it is right is above some benchmark in excess of 50%. However. That is. in the sense that only one side of the argument is formally represented. This imbalance would suggest that there is a bias in the procedure in favor of a finding that efficiency benefits prevail (and justify an exemption of Article 81(1)). As discussed above. the standard of proof that applies probably goes beyond the mere balance of probabilities. Still. there is less of a presumption that mergers will be than that agreements will be lawful. Indeed. The combination of such a standard with the obligation to take either positive or negative decisions is a little odd and raises an issue of consistency102. 2 of regulation 1/2003 reads as follows : “In any national or community proceedings for application of Art 81 or Art 82 of the Treaty. there may be instances where there is no decision that the Commission can take while abiding with the required standard.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 24 however a matter of degree (so that mild pressure could be exercised) and the equilibrium may also break down when particularly important issues are at stake. All mergers which See Wils. or to find that it is not compatible and prohibit it. 2004 Art.2.
However. The fact that the burden of proof is not explicitly shifted to the parties under the merger regulation. Despite the fact that the notice on remedies stipulates that it is for the parties to show that proposed commitment meet the competition concern. there is no explicit shift in the burden of proof in the merger regulation105. THE SYSTEM OF EVIDENCE GATHERING As discussed above the EU procedure can be seen as inquisitorial. Even if it is often argued informally that the parties should bear the burden of proof with respect to efficiencies (see for instance.htm 105 In the recent (21 September 2005) judgment on EDP/Gaz Natural (Case T-87/05). the Commission may have neglected important efficiency benefits). Röller. there is no perception that unconvincing efficiency claims have been accepted under the merger regulation (on the contrary. They can submit documents but can also request “state of play” meetings with the case team as well as “triangular” meetings (with the case team and third parties)104. Stennek and Verboven.1. the fact that the status of the efficiency defense was not entirely clear until 2004 has probably also played a role. What about those for which the probability falls in between? The Commission can simply not take one of the decisions that it is supposed to take towards those cases while meeting the required standard of proof103. the Court held that the burden of proof rests with the Commission.eu/comm/competition/mergers/legislation/bp1. available at http://ec. The relative merits of the adversarial and inquisitorial systems have long been considered in the law and economics literature and we will discuss the main insights from this literature.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 25 impede effective competition with a probability which is higher than 70% should be prohibited and all mergers which impede effective competition with a probability which is less than 30 % should be allowed. parties may exert a greater degree of control over the procedure than in the context of Articles 81 and 82. As discussed above. Prosecutorial bias 103 This issue does also arise. The system of proof taking with respect to the merger regulation appears to be inquisitorial with a prosecutorial bias and a degree of political control (as in the case of Articles 81/ and 82). Of course. 6. We take both issues in turn and start with the latter. with a prosecutorial bias and some degree of political control. to some extent. 81(3). with respect to the implementation of Art. unlike what happens with Art 81(3). 2006). This feature is important and may be a factor which helps explaining why the efficiency defense has not been overextended in the same way in merger control as in Article 81(3). for which the Commission takes both positive and negative decisions (but in that case that Commission does not have to take positive decision). 104 See DG Competition best practices on the conduct of merger control proceedings. Given the unusual features of the system of evidence gathering in the EU and its importance for the processing of economic evidence. 6. the system of proof taking and the allocation of the burden of proof are not modified when an efficiency defense is considered. Importantly. so that the procedure remains consistent and balanced may help explaining this difference. the following section will discuss it more fully in light the existing literature. The significance of a prosecutorial bias has also been discussed. . the CFI further discussed the allocation of the burden proof with respect to remedies.euroPa.
Some empirical evidence on the significance of such a bias can be obtained from the FTC procedures in the US. once entrenched in the Commission’s thinking.FTC Practice is lawful Or commitments Appeal to FTC com. the significance of this hindsight bias is well documented in the psychology literature. For instance. which therefore acts as judge on appeal. The FTC procedure is complex but its essential features are presented in Figure 2. Figure 2. The FTC Commission actually plays a mixed role to the extent that it acts both as a prosecutor and a judge on appeal: the FTC Commission acts a prosecutor in the initial phase and brings the case to an administrative law court. the parties can appeal its decision to the FTC Commission. The consequence would be that officials would tend to concentrate on evidence that confirms their own judgment106. Practice is unlawful Parties disagree Agency goes to a Federal court of appeal The agency and the parties carry BoP for their arguments 106 According to Wils (2004). cannot be dislodged: “I have made up my mind. and they will naturally try to avoid this dissonance. Do not try to confuse me with the facts””. He observes that officials may be the victim of “hindsight” bias. However. The symptom is a “self confirming bias” which some commentators claim to observe in fact (see Kühn. 2002). FTC procedure Complaint Or Ex officio Initial Investigation No reason For concern The agency has the BoP Reason to believe That the practice is unlawful – FTC com Parties agree Commitments Administrative law Judges . which are discussed in Wils (2004). if it is found in the course of a phase II investigation that the there is no competition concern. if the administrative law court finds against the parties (or impose commitments that the parties do not accept). officials will tend to believe that they should have known this at the time when they wrote the statement of objection which led to a phase II. Burnside (2001) for instance observes: “The frequent opinion of industry is that a view.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 26 The fact that the Commission is a decision maker which takes responsibility for uncovering the evidence that would normally be brought forward by plaintiffs may introduce some biases. This hindsight will lead to a problem of cognitive dissonance. . namely the “tendency for people with the benefit of hindsight to falsely believe that they could have predicted the outcome of an event”. which might call into question the confidence that officials have in their judgment. Appeal to FTC com.
The adversarial model was also defended as it allows for a dialectics of assertion and refutation which may be instrumental in revealing the true state of world. This result suggests that a naïve decision maker faced with evidence that is strategically reported will enforce the full information decision as long as the interests of the parties are sufficiently opposed107. Posner (1988) argued that competition between parties in the adversarial system would ensure that every relevant piece of information would be produced. has an opportunity to report and prefers the full information decision. as long as there is an agent that prefers the full information outcome over any alternative. here again. The decision maker is naïve but knows whether the agents are well informed. the decision maker can enforce the full information outcome. emphasized the fact that parties would attempt to mislead the decision maker. They test whether the result of the appeal is affected. In the context of an early debate. This distribution is however biased in favor of one party (the true facts are thus conclusive and favor one party). (i) Milgrom and Roberts (1986) examine the intuition of Posner according to which competition between interested parties will ensure that “true” facts will be uncovered. Adversarial versus inquisitorial The analysis of adversarial versus inquisitorial procedures has a long tradition in the law and economics literature. By contrast. Various formal models have explored the merits of these arguments. In other words.2. (ii) Froeb and Kobayashi (1996) extend this line of work by assuming that the decision maker may be biased and evidence is costly to produce. In their model. there is some experimental evidence suggesting that pre-mature judgment (which gets reinforced) is less likely to occur in adversarial systems (see Parisi. by the composition of the FTC Commission and in particular the proportion of members which rule on appeal while having also taken the decision to initiate proceedings. Tullock (1988). They show that the 107 They also show that agent’s limited ability to communicate the information that they have may not matter if the decision maker is sophisticated. Information is verifiable but may be concealed. .COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 27 This particular feature of the FTC procedure has been exploited by Coate and Kleit (1998). other things being equal. They find that the effect is both statistically and economically significant. One strand of the literature assumes that the underlying facts of the case strike a balance between the interests of the parties involved. They show that if there is always an interested party who is well informed. (2002) and references therein). They do not consider the cost of gathering information but allow agents to have different information. the parties produce evidence by making random draws from the same distribution and only report favorable evidence (so that the parties know the true state and have the same technology in producing evidence). Overall. the evidence is never inconclusive. 6. an overlap of three Commissioners (out of seven) easily doubles the probability that the Commission will confirm the decision of the administrative law court (relative to the probability when there is no overlap). it would thus appear that the self confirming biases that may be induced by the prosecutorial role that the Commission assumes cannot be dismissed as insignificant. the full information outcome is the only equilibrium. by contrast.
evidence on either side is provided by making random draws from the same distribution. In essence. parties take advantage of the bias of the jury to produce less (costly) evidence in the direction of the bias. the status quo should prevail (from a social point of 108 See also Palumbo (2001) who extends the work of Dewatripont-Tirole by assuming that the effort is continuous. Again. the other party wins. they assume that parties have the same technology in producing evidence and focus on the incentive to reveal information. whereas an arbitrator uses the average of his observations. the adversarial system is not necessarily worse even when it is assumed that the inquisitor has the same technology as the parties to uncover evidence. (v) Dewatripont and Tirole (1999)108 consider an alternative set-up. it appears that two pieces of biased information processed by a naïve judge may be at least as good as one (possibly two) piece(s) of unbiased information processed by an inquisitor. each litigant reports only the most favorable information. He shows that the adversarial procedure still fares well in this set-up because the arbitrator can adjust the standard of proof across agents as a function of the probability that they have received the signal. He assumes that there is a signal that is observed with different probabilities by the two parties and observed with some probability by an inquisitor. This arises because the party favored by the underlying distribution will produce more evidence (because it is less costly to do so). (iii) Froeb and Kobayashi (2001) compare the outcome of the inquisitorial and adversarial system is a similar model. The decision maker is then faced with a pooling between agents that are genuinely ignorant and agents that conceal information. These results.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 28 decision maker will again take the full information decision. The judge simply splits the outcome. and uses an optimal stopping rule to determine the number of draws. he “must” be wrong. The authors focus on the variance of the estimator for a given number of draws across all parties (i. In addition. . (iv) The assumption that the decision maker knows about the information that is available to the parties is considered by Shin (1998). She also shows that the adversarial system fares relatively less well than the inquisitorial system in this environment. one party wins. when the agents have the same technology of producing evidence. She shows that an excessive amount of proof taking can take place (as agents invest in information partly because of the scope for additional manipulation that it allows for). and the status quo. when the judge knows what the agents know and the interest of agents are opposed. in which there are three possible states of the world (and associated decisions). This structure differs from that adopted in the models reviewed so far in which one party always wins. They find that that adversarial system may lead to a lower variance if the underlying distribution itself exhibits a large variance (for instance with a uniform distribution). a given total cost). In other words. still suggest that the importance of the decision maker’s lack of sophistication in the adversarial system should not be exaggerated. and when differences in the quality of information that the agents have access to can be observed. He shows that competition between agents with sufficiently opposed interests will no longer suffice to ensure the full information outcome. the judge reasons that if one party who is thought to be better informed does not come up with evidence. In the adversarial system. while sensitive to a number of assumptions including the modeling of the decisions maker’s bias and the functional form of the underlying distribution.e. If there is information in favor of both parties. One can then compare the outcome reached by the inquisitor with that of an arbitrator who knows the probabilities that the agent will have received the signal. This suggests that the average of strategic (extreme) reporting is not necessarily more variable than the average of truthful reports. Hence.
in the adversarial system. if it is available. He can suppress evidence.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 29 view). it will lead to a decision in favor of the party suppressing evidence. indeed. the adversarial system dominates. both parties can incur a cost of searching. either by not reporting information that he has or suppressing information which is not helpful to his case. If there is no information in its favor. He obtains evidence with some probability and he can make a finding in favor of either side or choose the status quo. the inquisitor controls the debate. in this set up. if it exists. Errors in decision making take the form of “extremism”. the parties are free to debate whereas in the inquisitorial set up. His payoff is lowest is case of the status quo (it is equal to the payoff that he gets if he does not search). The authors show that an inquisitor will choose not to reveal information which would lead to the status quo. this will lead to the status quo when decision in favor of the opposite case would be favorable. An inquisitor can look for reasons to support either side of the argument and incurs a fixed cost of searching for each side. The authors also show that the adversarial system is more attractive when the parties have a high probability of finding evidence in favor of their case. the parties will always search and there is full information collection. 109 See also Block and Parker (2004). If there is favorable information the agent will get it with some probability. The error takes the form of inertia. such that one side of the argument is endorsed when the status quo would be appropriate. there are some situations of genuine inconclusiveness as there may be no fact in favor of either party. They consider two scenarios. is conclusive)109. . in addition. (2000) consider an experimental design in which one party is right and the other is wrong (so that evidence. an advocate might suppress conflicting evidence: if the opposite party has positive evidence. the inquisitorial system performs better. The error takes the form of extremism. This arises because the inquisitor may not actually look for both sides of the argument. By contrast. his evidence will not be conclusive and that he will have to choose the status quo. if he has conflicting information. he actually focuses on one side of the argument. Hence. an adversarial system generates inertia in addition to extremism and accordingly it will tend to dominate the inquisitorial system when the cost of inertia is “much” less than the cost of extremism. he is afraid that by looking for evidence on both sides. The results are striking: when Mr Wrong has private information. In the adversarial set up. Hence. in the adversarial system. When the probability of finding evidence is high enough. (vi) Some experimental evidence on the relative performance of inquisitorial and adversarial systems is available. Assuming that evidence cannot be manipulated. when the opposite party has no evidence. Mr Right also has a hint that he is right. However. In an adversarial system. In order to consider the manipulation of evidence. one in which Mr Wrong has private information to the effect that he is wrong and one in which. Agents invest in getting information and may obtain it with some probability. the authors assume that a party can either get a positive signal or conflicting evidence. The private information is revealed in 28 % of cases and only in 7% with an adversarial system. By contrast. Block et al. the agent will not get any.
relative to an adversarial regime. Existing theoretical models do not consider explicitly what is potentially one of the main advantages of the adversarial regime. Experimental evidence provides some validation of this assumption and confirms that the adversarial regime fares better when information is not totally skewed. To sum up. . Block and Parker (2004) further exploit this experiment by characterizing the settlement imposed by the judge when the information was not revealed. the Commission cannot meet the required standard of proof with either decision. The inquisitor’s aversion to the status quo which is build into the model of Dewatripont-Tirole is not. however. Tetra Laval/Sidel and Schneider/Legrand illustrate this vividly.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 30 By contrast. namely the dialectics of assertion and refutation in the evaluation of evidence produced by the parties. EU procedures and reform The prosecutorial bias and the intrinsic features of an inquisitorial procedure would appear to reinforce each other. The inquisitorial regime can be expected to produce more extreme decisions than the adversarial regime. it will have a further incentive to shift towards extreme outcomes (by suppressing evidence or failing to fully consider some alternatives). when the information is correlated. obviously illfounded. at least with respect to the implementation of the merger regulation. The information is revealed in 71 % of cases with the adversarial system and in 14 % of cases with the inquisitorial system. in favor of one party of the other. The tendency to focus on one side of the evidence would also appear to be consistent with the way in which the Commission has been found by the Court to mishandle economic theories and evidence. In those decisions. This result may however be highly dependent on the assumption that is made with respect to the objective of the inquisitor. in particular the conclusion that an inquisitor might not invest in seeking evidence towards both sides of the argument (when evidence is hard to manipulate) or might suppress conflicting evidence will be reinforced in the presence of a hindsight bias. 6. The tendency towards extremism in the EU is also probably reinforced by the inconsistency between the standard of proof and the scope of the decisions mentioned above. This finding is consistent with the predictions of Dewatripont-Tirole. when evidence is not very conclusive. the inquisitorial regime will produce more extreme settlements. In those circumstances. the reverse obtains but the difference is more dramatic. Indeed. and seems to accord with intuition in light of inquisitors’ career objectives. The Court decisions on Airtours/First Choice. the Court explicitly criticized the Commission for not pursuing arguments and for suppressing (or misinterpreting) evidence. This would seem to fit with the circumstances of antitrust proceedings in which plaintiffs (or their proxies) can be expected to have some information regarding the merits of the case.3. the literature seems to provide the following insights: There is some validation of Posner’s intuition that competition between interested parties leads to the revelation of information particularly in circumstances which may resemble those of antitrust proceedings (in which it is likely that the decision maker has reliable prior on the information available to the parties). They find that.
For instance. The parties and their econometrician (J. This institution. Following the Court decisions mentioned above. A non confidential version of the study. The Commission prevailed (Case T-87/05). These authors however felt that some of the criticisms was misplaced. One cannot help thinking that an adversarial regime. A review of the analysis of the case team at a late stage of the procedure by a set of different Commission officials has been introduced. partly on the basis that the Commission made an error of assessment. key assumptions in theoretical reasoning can be disguised as innocuous and empirical result that are not robust can be disguised a such. This is consistent with the view that the Commission suffers from the extremism that can be expected in inquisitorial procedures.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 31 This interpretation is congruent with some of the criticism that has been formulated towards merger control in the EU from direct observations of the procedures. this is easy to illustrate with the proceedings of the Volvo/Scania case. 112 In the words of Posner (1999).112 Even if the presentation of evidence is not distorted. but had no way to defend themselves110 as the procedure does not allow for a second round of discussion. Of course. From this perspective. The absence of a proper validation of economic evidence in some procedures can also be observed. the Commission has however introduced some element of cross-examination within the existing procedure (by allowing the economic advisors to the parties to access data and evaluate the analysis performed by the Commission (or plaintiffs) on its premises. It is tempting to associate extreme decisions with high fines and clearance and the status quo with moderate fines (with respect to collusion under Art 81). would have been more effective in validating the evidence in this instance and more generally in other procedures 111 . 111 In recent cases. Whether it intervenes at a sufficiently early stage in the procedure and whether the fresh pairs of eyes have the right incentives with respect to their colleagues (who may turn out to be the fresh pair of eyes on other cases) is unclear113. in cross-examination. 110 . they can hide behind an impenetrable wall of esoteric knowledge”. Hausman) criticized their analysis at the hearing. Kühn (2002) describes what he refers to as a “self confirming” bias in the Commission’ analysis. namely its tendency to suppress information or to fail to look for it. Evidence which is not subject to rigorous scrutiny can be easily abused . Marc Ivaldi and Frank Verboven undertook a merger simulation for the EU. (2005a) and (2005b) and Hausman and Leonard (2005)). the EU has implemented a couple of significant reforms: the office of the Chief Competition Economist has been created (with a staff of about 10 professional economists). as well the criticism of Hausman. commonly referred to as the “fresh pair of eyes” is arguably well targeted at the main weakness of an inquisitorial procedure with a procedural bias. namely that the Commission takes a view on cases early on and subsequently focuses on findings which supports that view. 113 The merger between EDP and Gaz Natural which presumably was subject to a fresh pair of eyes (and benefited from the input of the chief economist) was prohibited and challenged in court. investigating its robustness is more effectively undertaken by several parties with different perspectives. Inquisitorial procedures may not be best suited to distill and improve economic evidence. it is interesting to note (as discussed above) that the Court almost invariably reduces the fines imposed by the Commission. which allows for cross-examination and direct confrontation. referring to economic expert witnesses “the expert witness can mislead judges and juries more readily than lay witnesses can because they are more difficult to pick aPart. but such a procedure without adequate resources for the inquisitor would seem particular prone to abuse. and a proper reply by the authors have now been published (see Ivaldi and Verboven. the EU procedure would also appear particularly weak in validating economic evidence in light of the current imbalance in resources observed above.
Presumably. The imbalance in resources between the Commission and the parties is an impediment to a proper validation of economic evidence. There are at least two possible institutional arrangements. The Commission can hardly be made accountable for the effort that it does not exert in pursuing some argument. The nature of economic evidence. which needs to be validated. a set of rules on handling of economic evidence would prove useful. Whatever the system of evidence gathering. the “judge” and his office could belong to the Commission but it should be separated in a credible way from the institution to which the case team belongs. and with respect to Article 82 (as proposed by the discussion Paper on Article 82) may be misplaced. shifting the burden of proof towards the parties with respect to efficiencies in merger control. fully correct the incentives provided by an inquisitorial procedure. First. This institutional arrangement would effectively involve the establishment of an administrative tribunal within the Commission (like that of the FTC). Such a separation between prosecutors and judge is enforced in many judicial (and administrative) systems and seems therefore feasible. As a corollary. validation of economic evidence is helped by a clear set of rules which forces the economic experts to state “fully and in a timely manner” the economic reasoning and the facts on which they rely. This inconsistency reinforces the biases of the inquisitorial systems towards extremes. the case team could become a public prosecutor (as in the US system). The observations that the Commission may decide early on cases and search for selective evidence or that theories are neglected are consistent with the incentives generated by the inquisitorial regime with a prosecutorial bias implemented by the EU. it is still worth considering what the implementation of such a procedure would entail.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 32 7. The Commission did probably not fully appreciate the standard of proof that it would be expected to meet and the standard of review that would be applied to its decisions. may be such that it is best handled by in the process of assertion and refutation which is typical of an adversarial system of proof taking. it is hard to tell whether the reforms implemented by the Commission will prove effective in redressing the biases induced by the inquisitorial procedure. 114 See Posner (1999). The EU could adopt a similar standard. This is enforced in a code of conduct (the Reference Manual on scientific evidence used by Federal Courts) which incorporates the standards set by the Supreme Court in the Daubert decision114. A strengthening of the standard of review cannot. Both the standard of proof and the standard of review have remained surprisingly vague until recent cases. the following conclusions emerge: The allocation of the burden of proof with respect to Article 81§3 is a bit odd and possible overextensions of the efficiency defense may be related to this feature. Werden (2005) and Breyer (2004) . In view of the intrinsic advantages of an adversarial procedure discussed above. by itself. There is some inconsistency between the scope of the decisions enforced under the merger regulation and the standard of proof that the Commission is supposed to meet. As the US experience suggests. As discussed above. The office of a “judge” would have to be created. Recent decisions by the Court should significantly reduce the scope for mismanagement of economic evidence. REMEDIES ? From our discussion of procedures.
the ability to appoint experts is essential for the functioning of US Courts. the decisions could be taken by the CFI. The Commission needs to mobilize further resources. This would involve a broadening of the tasks entrusted to the Court by the Council which according to Wils (2004) is feasible within the current EC treaty115. the scope for capture by corporate interests and member states at the level of the College of Commissioners has been a concern in the past. the imbalance in economic resources between parties and the Commission is gross. as argued in the paper. Second. The proportion of antitrust lawyers with a sound understanding of economics and the proportion of competition economists with a good understanding of the law has increased. The isomorphism and possible identity is constructed as economics influences the interpretation of the law. 2001) 118 See for instance Vives (2005) who highlights renewed risks of capture by member states. Clearly. in particular its system of proof taking. 8. as in antitrust. A number of national antitrust agencies are headed by economists and have accumulated economic expertise (including sometimes the creation of an office of chief economist). This may be attractive in itself. the procedures used by the Commission. Furthermore. What is required is a step and not a marginal increase. the wording of the law itself has occasionally been changed to allow for more economicsfriendly implementation. Some conditions are also in place to deepen the process. (but not only there). . may not allow for the most effective development of economic theory and evidence in actual cases.COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 33 Alternatively. a delegation of decision making would seem attractive. The isomorphism becomes an identity when. Commissioner Monti has established very high standards of independence towards corporate interests117 and member states and the focus has sifted away from that sort of capture. “there is a remarkable isomorphism between legal doctrine and economic theory. Those changes would imply in any event that the College of Commissioners would no longer take the final decision. This option would seem to be open at least in the case of the CFI116. As mentioned above. since there is no clear benefit from granting decision making power to the college of Commissioners and no guarantee that this form of capture may not surface again118 in the future. it will also be necessary to provide them with support in particular regarding economic analysis. However. As emphasized by Posner (1999). Welch provides an amusing illustration of this (Welch and Byrne. See Wils (2004) for a discussion. with the “Commission” acting a plaintiff. Whether decision making is entrusted to an administrative law judge or the CFI. CONCLUSION According to Richard Posner (1999). What are the most significant impediments to further progress? First. The CFI in recent judgments has not shied away from the review of economic analysis. 115 116 There is however no consensus among lawyers on this issue. See Botteman (2006) 117 The biography of J. The evidence reviewed in this paper confirms that important progress has been made in this respect in Europe in the last twenty years. in particular by reinforcing the team of the Chief Competition Economist. the law adopts an explicitly economic criterion of legality”.
COMPETITION ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST IN EUROPE _____ 34 .
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