In European law and policy, the concept of Universal Service Obligations refers to a set of general interest requirements ensuring that certain services are: (i) available throughout a certain territory (e.g. the territory of a Member State) for all consumers and users, independently of their geographical location (geographical component); (ii) at a specified quality, often including inter alia regularity/continuity of service (technical component; and (iii) at an affordable price, in the light of specific national conditions (economic component). The Universal Service concept has been developed specifically for some of the network industries (e.g. telecommunications, postal services, electricity) and due to its nature it will usually, though not necessarily, refer to services which are provided on the basis of some kind of network. © OECD
Universal service
a
Absolute territorial protection
•
Abuse of dominant position
•
Abuse of economic dependence
•
Access to essential facility
•
Access to information
•
Access to the file
•
Actual competitor
•
Administered prices
•
Advocacy
•
Agency agreement
•
Agent
•
Agreement (notion)
•
Amicus curiae
•
Ancillary restraints
•
Annulment
•
Anticompetitive object or effect
•
Anticompetitive practices
•
Antitrust
•
Applicable law
•
Arbitration
•
Article 11 letter
•
Automotive distribution
b
c
Cartel
•
Clearance phase I (merger)
•
Clearance phase II (merger)
•
Collecting society
•
Collective dominance
•
Collective redress (class action)
•
Collusion
•
Comity
•
Commission Notice
•
Competence
•
Competition policy
•
Complaint
•
Compliance programme
•
Compulsory license
•
Concentration indexes
•
Concerted practices
•
Concession
•
Concurrent jurisdiction
•
Consortium
•
Consumers protection
•
Consumers’ associations
•
Control (change)
•
Control (notion)
•
Cooperation Agreement
•
Cooperation between competition authorities
•
Coordinated effects
•
Copyright
•
Corporate group
•
Corruption
•
Cost-based access
•
Cournot (Nash) equilibrium
•
Criminal sanctions
•
Cross subsidisation
d
e
ECHR
•
Economic analysis
•
Economic efficiency
•
Economies of scale
•
Economies of scope
•
Effect on trade between Member States
•
Effective judicial protection
•
EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) & Court
•
Environmental protection
•
Error costs
•
Essential facility
•
European Competition Network (ECN)
•
Ex Ante / Ex Post Control
•
Excessive prices
•
Exchanges of information
•
Exclusionary practice
•
Exclusive distribution
•
Exclusive purchasing
•
Exclusive right (Art. 106 TFEU)
•
Exclusivity clause
•
Exhaustion
•
Extra-territoriality
f
i
k
l
m
Mandatary (distribution)
•
Margin squeeze
•
Marginal costs
•
Market economy investor
•
Market of goods or services
•
Market power
•
Market share
•
Media pluralism
•
Merger (notion)
•
Merger (prohibition)
•
Merger (withdrawal)
•
Merger control procedure
•
Merger remedies
•
Minority shareholdings
•
Misinformation
•
Monopoly
p
Parallel imports (parallel trade)
•
Passing-on
•
Passive sales
•
Patents
•
Pay-for-delay
•
Periodic penalty payment
•
Personal data
•
Potential competition
•
Predatory pricing
•
Preliminary ruling (Art. 267 TFUE)
•
Price discrimination
•
Price leadership
•
Price signalling
•
Price-fixing agreement
•
Prices
•
Principle of effectiveness
•
Principle of equal treatment
•
Principle of equivalence
•
Principle of proportionality
•
Private enforcement
•
Privatization
•
Procedural autonomy
•
Professional association
•
Public procurement
•
Public undertaking
r
R&D agreement
•
Referral (merger)
•
Refusal to deal
•
Regulated prices
•
Regulation
•
Relevant market
•
Remedies (antitrust)
•
Request for information
•
Resale below cost
•
Resale price maintenance (RPM)
•
Restriction on exportation
•
Right against self-incrimination
•
Rights of defence
•
Rule of reason
s
Sector inquiry
•
Selective distribution
•
Self-Preference
•
Services of general economic interest
•
Single branding
•
Sole control
•
Spill-over effects
•
Standard-Essential Patent (SEP)
•
State action defense
•
State aid (compatibility)
•
State aid (existing aid)
•
State aid (notification)
•
State aid (notion)
•
State aid (recovery)
•
State aid (tax ruling)
•
State aid (unlawful aid)
•
State measure
•
Statement of objections (SO)
•
Substitutability
•
Sudden break of established business relationships