Article 102 Reform

In August 2024, the European Commission published draft guidelines for consultation on exclusionary abuse under Article 102. The guidelines aim to reflect latest developments in jurisprudence and increase legal certainty.

Oxera responded to the consultation which closed on 31 October 2024. The response highlights areas where improvements could be made to better align the guidelines with established economic principles. We have made a number of recommendations aimed at improving the framework set out in the draft guidelines to ensure that it is focuses on the likelihood of harm to consumers, and is capable of reliably detecting anticompetitive conduct without diluting incentives for procompetitive behaviour by dominant firms.

In anticipation of the release of the draft guidelines, the Oxera Economics Council—a group of leading academic economists—met in spring 2024 to discuss options for reform of Article 102, taking into account the latest developments in the economic literature and European case law.

Following the draft guidelines’ release, Oxera facilitated one of the first discussions on the document in a webinar. Oxera Partners Dr Helen Jenkins, a leading Competition Economist, and Dr Giulio Federico, who was previously Head of Unit for the Chief Economist Team at DG Competition, were joined by Dr Lluís Saurí Romero, the current Acting Chief Economist of DG Competition, and Professor Massimo Motta (ICREA-Univ. Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona School of Economics, and former Chief Economist of DG Competition).