On the Merits: Current Issues in Competition Law and Policy - Liber Amirocum Peter Plompen

Paul Lugard, Leigh Hancher

This section selects books on themes related to competition laws and economics. This compilation does not attempt to be exhaustive but rather a survey of themes important in the area. The survey usually covers publication over the last three months after publication of the latest issue of Concurrences. Publishers, authors and editors are welcome to send books to catherine.prieto@univ-paris1.fr for review in this section.

This collection of fifteen essays, already impressive in its range and depth of analysis, represents a considerable testament to the range and depth of Peter Plompen’s expertise, his unique contribution to the development of European and national competition law (a.k.a. anti-trust law) and policy over the lively 25 years of his tenure at Philips. It furthermore provides an analysis at once fascinating and critical of a field of law, the very dynamics of which contribute to offer major challenges to all those involved in it and with it, whether they are policy makers, practitioners, enforcers or indeed ‘consumers’ – general or in-house counsel, as well as the final consumers of the products and services offered by their firms. Any attempt to capture and systematically analyze these dynamics – ‘the shifting sands and troubled waters’ – the ‘remarkable journey towards convergence’ – to borrow from the titles of just two of the contributions to this Liber is a complex intellectual endeavour and practical challenge in its own right.