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Competition Law in the European Communities
September 2003 Issue
Questions raised and answered in this issue:
1. What are the issues raised in the French Court’s judgment that payments made in respect of Ryanair’s services to Strasbourg are in breach of the European Community’s rules on State Aids? (See Comment)
2. What is the difference between the abuse of a dominant position through the misuse of patents and abuse resulting from the misuse of patent procedures? (See the Losec Case)
3. How can the judgment of a German Court on copyright and the abuse of a dominant position be squared with the proceedings on a similar case now before the Court of Justice of the European Communities? (See the IMS case)
4. In what circumstances may a breach of a statutory duty amount to an abuse of a dominant position? (See the Italian Railway Case and the Marathon Case)
5. Is a Compact Disc Licensing Program, agreed between two major CD manufacturers, compatible with the rules on competition and, more specifically, with the block exemption regulation on Technology Transfer Agreements? (See the Philips / Sony Case)
6. Why is the Commission saying that, in spite of the new block exemption regulation on motor vehicle distribution, “competition and cross-border trade have not yet brought about significant price convergence”? (See Commission Report on Motor Vehicles)
7. Does financial support, which merely represents compensation for public service obligations imposed by a Member State, have the character of State Aid? (See the Altmark Case)
8. What has led the Commission to decide that it will take legal action against another institution of the European Communities (the Council) in a State Aid case? (See the Belgian Tax Case)
9. In matters
of State Aid to industries for R & D purposes, what is the distinction
between genuine R & D on the one hand and, on the other hand, “matters
too close to the market to be termed R & D”? (See the
Gamesa Case)