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Big data and EU merger control
Bosáková, Viktória ; Šmejkal, Václav (advisor) ; Svobodová, Magdaléna (referee)
BIG DATA AND EU MERGER CONTROL ABSTRACT The significance of "big data" as a factor in the competitive assessment of mergers in EU has attracted more and more attention in the past years. Today's digital economy revolves around the Internet and information technologies that together enabled collecting and processing previously unimaginable sets of data, high in volume, velocity, variety and value. Data started to present a valuable and important asset to various businesses, mainly active on online platforms. Consequently, companies may engage in strategic mergers in order to acquire profitable data from one another. The aim of this master thesis is to research and analyse whether big data could result in the increased market power of the newly merged company or could have detrimental effects on other competitors present on the market or the competition itself. The main research question therefore is whether big data in its essence could constitute a competitive concern when it comes to data-related mergers. This thesis initially clarifies the concept and characteristics of "big data" in general, whilst demonstrating the increasing significance of data used as assets for businesses in the present digital economy. The research then focuses on what role specific features of data could play in various stages of...
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Protection of competition in selected liberalized network industries: the case of rail and air transport in the EU
Mohylová, Aneta ; Šmejkal, Václav (advisor) ; Kunertová, Tereza (referee)
(EN) This thesis deals with the EU competition law enforcement in the transport sector towards private undertakings. Specifically, air and rail transport are focused at as they represent convenient examples on which it can be demonstrated how the EU manages to cope with the liberalization process and apply the competition rules to these sectors. The main research question of the thesis is what specific features can be observed in the decision making of the Commission and Court of Justice of the EU regarding the competition rules in the transport sector, specifically air and rail industry. This thesis is structured as follows. In total, it includes six chapters, introduction, four main chapters and the conclusion. The first main chapter is devoted to the EU transport policy as the goals of the transport policy, the liberalization process and its main characteristics are described. Specifically, the main milestones in the creation of single European transport policy in the transport sector are presented and the main obstacles in the liberalization process in the airline and rail sector are discussed. Moreover, the chapter also deals with the relationship of ex ante regulation and ex post competition rules. The second chapter focuses on the analysis of the competition rules enforcement in the air...
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Application of competition law on the markets with multisided platforms
Mikeš, Stanislav ; Černá, Stanislava (advisor) ; Horáček, Tomáš (referee)
1 Application of competition law on the markets with multisided platforms Abstract This rigorous thesis deals with a phenomenon of multisided platforms from the competition law perspective with a special focus on online multisided platforms. A notion of multisided platforms is explained in the thesis as well as its implications for the competition law. It is then examined how a market structure of a multisided platform influences a process of delimitation of a relevant market and assessment of a market power as two basic pillars of every competition law analysis. Theoretical findings are then confronted with a selected decision-making practice of EU and national competition authorities dealing with the phenomenon of multisided platforms. The thesis is structured into four main chapters. Chapter One contains a brief introduction into the subject-matter and sets out goals of this thesis which are to present the phenomenon of multisided platforms, explore its specifics and show how the methods of competition law analysis needs to be adapted in other to correctly assess all the specifics of the multisided platforms. Chapter Two presents various definitions of multisided platforms in academic literature. Potential categories of multisided platforms are presented in this chapter. The notion of multisided...
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Compensation for damage arising from breach of competition law from the perspective of private international law
Línek, David ; Černá, Stanislava (advisor) ; Brodec, Jan (referee)
1 Abstract The thesis deals with the topic of damages claims arising from breach of competition law. In particular, it focuses on the cases in which is involved a relevant international element. The thesis reflect the thought that even after adoption of Directive on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union, there are still significant differences between the legal systems of the Member States, which to a large extent affect the compensation for damages. The thesis is divided into six chapters, the first and last of which are general introduction and conclusion. The second chapter deals with the definition of private enforcement of competition law and its relation to private international law. The third chapter can be divided into two relatively separate parts. The first one deals with the general construction of damages in the Czech Civil Code and performs a basic comparison with the Germany and England. The second part deals with selected specific areas of competition law. In particular, with the topics such as: who is eligible to bring an action; who can be considered as liable; or the basic procedural specificities (the distinction between stand alone and follow-on actions, the...
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Collective actions in private enforcement of competition law
Jahn, Martin ; Šmejkal, Václav (advisor) ; Kunertová, Tereza (referee)
in English This master's thesis is concerned with collective redress mechanisms in the area of competition law of the European Union. Taking into account the ongoing modernization of private enforcement of competition law, the European Commission had decided to create a complementary system of collective and representative actions. Implementation of such instruments was recommended by the European Commission in Commission Recommendation of 11 June 2013 on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms in the Member States concerning violations of rights granted under Union Law. The main research question of this thesis is whether the European Commission has taken a wise approach towards collective redress mechanisms by creating the complementary system of collective redress, using the opt-in mechanism. This master's thesis is divided into 5 main chapters. In the first chapter, the readers are introduced to the topic of enforcement of competition law in the European Union. Further, the main research question is laid down, followed by the sources and methodology used in this thesis. The second chapter shortly describes each way of enforcement of competition law in the European Union. It aims mainly at describing private enforcement of competition law, as it forms the...
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The specifics of interpretation and application of the European union competition law in relation to patents: limitation of patent rights by the "essential facility doctrine" in the U.S. antitrust and E.U. competition law
Přibil, Stanislav ; Šmejkal, Václav (advisor) ; Dobřichovský, Tomáš (referee)
The relationship between competition law and intellectual property (IP) rights is often viewed as adversarial. Competition law strives to maintain effective competition as a way of achieving effective allocation of resources and thereby contributing to consumer welfare. IP rights, on the other hand, provide the IP holder with a legal monopoly for a limited period of time, which shield the IP holder from competition. Although the ultimate goal of competition law and IP rights is to contribute to consumer welfare, the methods used to achieve this goal - creating a monopoly on the one hand and maintaining competition on the other hand - seem to be in conflict. This thesis examines the interaction between competition law and patent rights. In particular, it considers whether patent rights can be restricted by the "essential facility doctrine", both under US antitrust law and EU competition law. The essential facility doctrine (EFD) was developed in US jurisprudence as a type of monopolization claim under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The doctrine has four elements: (1) control of an essential facility by a monopolist, (2) a competitor's inability to practically or economically duplicate the facility, (3) denial of use of the facility to the competitor, and (4) feasibility of providing access to the...
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The Enforcement of EU Competition Law and Its Compliance with The Right to Fair Trial
Bartoš, Vojtěch ; Šmejkal, Václav (advisor) ; Kunertová, Tereza (referee)
The Enforcement of EU Competition Law and Its Compliance with the Right to Fair Trial - the Abstract: The EU is a community based on common values among which the prime role is played by fundamental rights. One of the most important rights which serves also as a vehicle for the protection of other rights is the right to fair trial. That is valid also for the specific field of EU competition law. The European Commission issues in competition proceedings sanctions which are of criminal nature. Such sanction must be either imposed or at least reviewed by an independent court or tribunal with a full jurisdiction. This is a doctrine developed by the ECtHR in Strasbourg under art. 6 of the Convention and it has been well established in its case law for decades. Since the Commission itself is not an independent court or tribunal, its decisions must be reviewed by the ECJ which must exercise the full jurisdiction over the decisions in question. In the past the ECJ was criticised that it did not possess or exercise the full jurisdiction by which it failed to safeguard the standard of fair trial. Although the ECJ accepted the line of case law on criminal nature of Commission's decisions, at times it was indeed rather hesitant to review fully the parts of the decision where the Commission assessed the factual...
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Penalizing cartel agreements in Czech and European law
Knotková, Denisa ; Prášková, Helena (advisor) ; Pítrová, Lenka (referee)
Cartel agreements constitute a distortion to consumer ́s welfare and economics environment itself by yielding higher profits without risks to those who engage in anticompetitive behavior. Therefore the purpose of this master thesis is to analyze the aspects of sanctioning cartels under Czech and European law especially with regard to the many recent changes in legislation regulating the protection of competition. The thesis is composed of fifteen chapters. Chapter one defines cartels and their characteristics. Second chapter builds on the first by introducing, the types of prohibited agreements. The background in history of competition regulation and its upcoming challenges is provided in chapter three followed by explanation of the reasons why it is necessary to prosecute competitors who engage in anticompetitive conduct in chapter four. Since these reasons have changed several times in history as have the views of the regulator on the need of market regulation, it is important to explore the issue of inconsistency as they still remain topic of discussion even nowadays. Chapter five provides overview of the institutions whose task it is to enforce competition law. After these background chapters, in chapter six the focus shifts towards liability aspects of cartels and the process of sanctioning...
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"Comparison of the aproach to the legal regulatory framework of competition in selected liberal schools of economic thought"
Horych, Jan ; Bažantová, Ilona (advisor) ; Hraba, Zdeněk (referee)
Comparison of the aproach to the legal regulatory framework of competition in selected liberal schools of economic thought The thesis focuses on different approaches and conceptions of the market process, economic competition, anticompetitive practices and its regulatory framework in works of selected authors, who belong to different schools of economic thought, that are commonly labeled as "liberal". Gathered findings are then compared. Selected schools of economic thought are the Austrian school, the Chicago school and Freiburg or Ordoliberal school. Each section starts with analysis of the methodology used by given school of economic thought and explanation of concepts used, followed by the definition of market process and views on market order and arrangement and ending with suggestions on the form of actual regulation. First chapter of the thesis starts with defining basic concepts of economic competition, its regulation and anticompetitive practices. These concepts raise little difficulty or confusion thanks to their steady and common legislative usage. The second chapter explains the term "liberal" which is quite contrary to previous terms used ambiguously and often with completely opposite meanings. These two initial chapters delimit the scope and field of study of the thesis. The core of...
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Abuse of dominance with respect to pricing practices
Ryneš, Oto ; Horáček, Vít (advisor) ; Horáček, Tomáš (referee)
- english This thesis is dedicated to the abuse of dominant position with respect to the pricing practices. Initially, it analyses the relevant legal framework of the abuse of dominant position as the legal phenomenon. Then, it draws attention to the field of individual anti-competition pricing practices, including the developing field of margin squeeze abuses. Major contribution rests with the analysis of the award of damages in particular cases in the Czech Republic. This work also includes an in-depth philosophical examination of selected competition law issues.
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