The EU Court of Justice delivers a ruling which sheds more light on non-price abuses under Article 102 TFEU in relation to conduct which constitutes an abuse of dominance and the interpretation of the concept of "competition on the merits" (Servizio Elettrico Nazionale)

Exclusionary non-price abuses under Article 102 TFEU: useful guidance from the CJEU The recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in C-377/20, Servizio Elettrico Nazionale and Others v Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato is a helpful summary of the principles which apply in assessing whether conduct constitutes an abuse of dominance under Article 102 TFEU, in particular the interpretation of the concept of “competition on the merits”. Background Upon the liberalisation of the retail market for electricity distribution in Italy, the activities of Enel group (the former statutory monopolist) were unbundled and various stages of the electricity distribution process were assigned to separate undertakings, including Enel Energia SpA (EE) (active in the