Bøger i Hart Studies in Competition La serien

The gap between the rich and poor is widening across the globe. This book explores whether this major societal challenge of our time can be addressed by the means of competition law.The primary goal of today's competition law is to ensure that market power does not lead to an inefficient production of goods and services. Nevertheless, even such efficiency-oriented curbing of market power may arguably contribute to the reduction of differences in how much people own and earn. Furthermore, many competition law regimes do take into account distributive considerations too.The chapters investigate the relationship between competition law and economic (in)equality from philosophical, historical, and economic perspectives. Their inquiries concern the conceptual foundations of competition law and doctrinal frameworks of individual jurisdictions, as well as specific problems and markets. As such, the book provides a novel and comprehensive overview of whether and how competition law can contribute to more equality in both developed and developing countries.The book is a must-read for researchers, public officials, judges, and practitioners within the competition law community. It will also appeal to anyone more broadly interested in issues of inequality and economic policy.

The 2nd edition of this book provides an updated comprehensive analysis of the European Commission's dawn raid practices from a due process perspective. Examining the obligations imposed by the Charter and the ECHR and the response of the Luxembourg and Strasbourg Courts, the book shows that whereas the Strasbourg Court manages to strike a balance between efficiency concerns and fundamental rights, the approach of the EU Courts is not equally balanced. The dawn raid is a powerful tool on which the European Commission relies heavily in its antitrust investigations. In 2022, the Commission carried out dawn raids in private homes for the first time in many years and it has declared its intent to make greater use of the power to inspect private premises. Furthermore, the European Commission is expanding its dawn raid practices into new areas of law. Both the Digital Markets Act and the Foreign Subsidies Regulation empower the Commission to carry out dawn raids and to impose heavy fines on anyone failing to cooperate. Ensuring adequate procedural safeguards is therefore more important than ever.The book provides an essential and timely examination of this important subject, and is of great practical interest to companies, practitioners, and enforcers. It is also of theoretical interest, offering stimulating reflections on the effectiveness and legitimacy of the Commission's enforcement powers.