Abuse of a dominant position

Abstract

The aim of competition policy is to prevent companies with a dominant position in their economic sector from abusing this position and from distorting competition in intra-Community trade. This aim requires difficult investigation to prove abuse of dominance. The paper outlines the difficulties and controversies of EU competition law. First, it discusses the legal framework and the scope of Dominance. Both legislation and recent case law are analysed to identify the principles of dominant position on the market. Secondly, the paper provides the reader with the concept of Abuse and examines different opinions about its determination. Subsequently, the paper argues that the Commission’s approach towards abuse of dominant position may be discriminative or vague for a dominant undertaking and needs further development.