ZWeR 2008, 208
The assessment of minimum resale price maintenance in Europe in the aftermath of Leegin
In the Leegin decision handed down in June 2007, the US Supreme Court lifted the long-standing per se prohibition of minimum resale price maintenance agreements under Sec. 1 of the Sherman Act and held that – due to possible pro-competitive effects these practices may have – the rule of reason should be applied for judging such restrictions. This article discusses whether this change of assessment in the United States may suggest adopting a more balanced approach toward minimum resale price maintenance also under European competition law, particularly in light of the “more economic approach'' increasingly applied by the European Commission.
Contents
- I. Introduction
- II. The Supreme Court's decision in Leegin
- 1. Facts
- 2. Majority decision: per se rule no longer applies for RPM
- 3. Consequences of Leegin and the issue of US state antitrust laws
- 4. Applying the rule of reason – The Nine West decision of the FTC
- III. Pro-competitive justification and dangers of RPM
- 1. Economic framework for the assessment under a consumer welfare standard
- 2. Possible pro-competitive effects
- 3. Possible negative effects
- 4. Separating “good'' and “bad'' RPM
- 5. Summary
- IV. Change of assessment under Art. 81 EC-Treaty?
- 1. Current assessment of minimum RPM under Art. 81 EC-Treaty
- 1.1 General framework of legal assessment – no per se rules exist
- 1.2 Case law of the ECJ on RPM
- 1.3 Assessment in Commission practice – RPM as “hardcore'' restriction
- 1.4 Conclusion
- 2. Can European competition law accommodate a more balanced assessment of RPM?
- 2.1 Review of rationales of the Commission labeling RPM a “hardcore'' restriction
- 2.2 ECJ case law: differentiated view on price effects of vertical agreements
- 3. Options for applying a differentiated approach toward RPM
- 3.1 Art. 81 (1) EC-Treaty
- 3.2 Block exemption under Regulation 2790/1999?
- 3.3 Individual exemption under Art. 81 (3) EC-Treaty?
- V. Conclusion
- *
- *)Dr. Peter Gey, LL.M. (University of Chicago) is an associate in the antitrust group in the Frankfurt/M. office of Mayer Brown LLP. Dr. Hans-Georg Kamann is partner in that group and Director of the Centre of European Law at the University of Passau (CEP).
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