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The protection of the normal functioning of the market is the essential characteristic of competition law. The particularity of this law is that it is both Community and national and involves various institutions at both levels. Competition law must therefore be understood without distinction between national and Community law, because that is how it is effectively applied. Drawing extensively on his experience as permanent rapporteur of the Competition Council, the author’s ambition is to provide a practical and operational description of national and Community competition law and to explain not only its principles (cartels, abuse of dominant position and economic dependence, abusive low prices, mergers, state aid, dumping) but also its mechanisms through the analysis of some twenty fundamental concepts (the market, exemptions, preservation of employment, procedural deadlines, powers of the competition authority, etc.). This second edition, updated to the law of May 15, 2001 on new economic regulations, takes into account recent reforms; - at the national level : the Competition Council, which has been part of the European Competition Network since May 1, 2004, has been given new powers, aligned with those of the European Commission and most national competition authorities, with in particular the introduction of "settlement" procedures (ordinance of November 4, 2004 and, above all, the decree of December 27, 2005) and leniency procedures (decree of December 27, 2005 and the French leniency program of April 11, 2006); - at the Community level: in 2006, the European Commission adopted new guidelines on sanctions.
