Mel Marquis

This article provides an overview of current trends in European cartel law from mid-2016 to mid-2019. We begin with the following preliminary remarks. In order to guarantee that the European Commission (“Commission”) can adequately carry out its task to oversee and ensure the effective implementation of the EU competition rules, it has been granted a wide range of far-reaching, and even “coercive” competences. For many years, one of the main disputed points has been whether the Commission’s role as investigator, prosecutor and first-instance decision-maker is compatible with Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”), which gives expression to the undertakings’ right to a fair trial “by an independent and impartial tribunal”. However, the risks posed by the concentration of those functions and powers in the hands of a single authority are mitigated to some extent by the EU’s system of ex post judicial review. Assuming this system is effective and efficient, it serves as a sufficient control mechanism to uphold the institutional balance and, ultimately, the rule of law within the European Union (“EU”).

Introduction The scope of the present contribution is at the same time relatively narrow – since it focuses on judicial review in cartel cases, and then only on a modest sample of the numerous cases that have arisen in Europe in the last few years – and relatively broad, since the term (...)

The European Commission announced in March 2012 that it had concluded its fifth cartel settlement since the EU cartel settlement regime was adopted in 2008. The pace at EU-level has thus accelerated to that of a slow drip, although the Commission anticipates a more steady flow soon. With (...)