Le renouveau du traitement des entreprises communes en droit européen de la concurrence /

• Main Author: Nouvel, Laurent.
• Other Authors: Winter, J. A. (advisor)
• Format: Others
• Language: fr
• Published: McGill University 2000
• Subjects: Joint ventures > European Union countries.; Consolidation and merger of corporations > European Union countries.; Antitrust law > European Union countries.
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=30803

The assessment of joint venture appears to be one of the most difficult issues in European competition law. A rational and well-balanced treatment is long awaited. Indeed, the artificial distinction between co-operative and concentrative joint ventures was based on complex and contradictory criteria. The European Commission applied them flexibly at the expense of predictability, damaging the legal certainty that is so necessary for these transactions. The existence of two distinct regimes, one for concentrative and one for co-operative joint ventures, with more favourable treatment for the former, explains why firms wished to subject their transactions to the Merger Regulation rather than article 81 of the Treaty. The reform of the Merger Regulation, which entered into force in 1998, modifies the boundaries between the different types of joint ventures, now focusing on structural criterion. It gives birth to a new distinction between structural and behavioural joint ventures. This simplification of the qualification phase, however, raises new questions relating to the content and the relevance of the chosen criterion. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)