The EC draft Guidelines on Article 82 EC

"At the end of December 2005, DG Competition published its much-awaited “Discussion Paper on the application of EC Treaty competition rules on abuse of dominant position (Article 82)”*. In the meantime, the public consultation period has been closed. The reasons requiring a review of the current application of Article 82 EC are clear. The Commission has already successfully reviewed its interpretation of Article 81 EC, in particular as regards vertical restraints. Shortly afterwards, the Commission reviewed the Merger Regulation. The thrust of these successive reviews remains essentially the same. The Commission introduced more economic analysis. The Commission also stressed that the objective of Community competition law is to protect free competition on the market as a factor in improving the welfare of consumers. In the light of these previous reforms, the review of the interpretation of Article 82 EC appears to be overdue...".