Competition and distribution: Does competition law allow to apprehend the supermarkets behaviors?

This set of three papers is derived from the training session organized by the Concurrences Review that was held on 29th March 2012 in Paris. For Gildas de Muizon, Economist and author of the second contribution, the market power of supermarkets must be assessed locally. For this it is necessary to conduct a geographic delineation of relevant markets in order to be able to calculate local market shares. It is then possible, by mobilizing the right tools, to study potential links between the price level and the degree of concentration. For Joseph Vogel, author of the last contribution, lawyers are forced to conclude that it is very difficult to find the tools within the competition rules to deal with the position of strength held by the major retailers and the behaviors that result from that position. Competition law is only of any real effectiveness in that regard in limited cases or under conditions that themselves give rise to difficulties.