Oligopoly definition

View the related practice notes about Oligopoly

Collective dominance and oligopolies

Competition concerns relating to collective dominance and oligopolies may be dealt with in various ways under EU competition law, namely under:•Article 101 TFEU•Article 102 TFEU•the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR).This Practice Note addresses collective dominance and oligopoly issues outside of Article 101 TFEU.The concept of collective dominance has been developed through case law relating to Article 102 TFEU and the EUMR. The case law suggests that this concept is the same under the two provisions, however, there are important differences between the analysis in each context.Collective dominance and Article 102 TFEUArticle 102 TFEU prohibits abuses by one or more undertakings of a dominant position (see further, The prohibition on abuse of dominance).EU case law has established that Article 102 TFEU extends to abuses of a dominant position held collectively by multiple undertakings that may not separately hold a dominant position.In order for there to be an abuse of collective dominance in breach of Article 102 TFEU, it needs to be established that:•a collective position is held between separate undertakings•that collective position...

Dominant position under Article 102 TFEU

Dominant position under Article 102 TFEU Article 102 TFEU prohibits undertakings which hold a dominant position within the EU, or a substantial part of it, from abusing that dominant position, insofar as it may affect trade between Member States. It is often unclear whether a company is 'dominant' for the purposes of EU competition law. Dominance does not necessarily entail having a majority share of the market, but a company with a share of 50% will typically be presumed to be dominant. Unless a company has been involved in previous competition law cases, or findings of dominance in a merger context, it may be uncertain as to whether it is dominant as a matter of law. This Practice Note considers in further detail what constitutes a ‘dominant position’. The legal test The test for establishing dominance has been set out by the Court of Justice as: 'a position of economic strength enjoyed by an undertaking which enables it to prevent effective competition being maintained on the relevant market by giving...