On 27 March 2023, the EC launched a Call for Evidence seeking feedback on the adoption of Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance and published a Communication (and Annex). The package under discussion is the first major policy initiative in abuse of dominance rules since 2008. Since the Article 102 TFEU is one of the few areas of European competition law where no guidelines clarify its application, the EC intends to adopt the Guidelines to reflect the EU courts' case law as well as the experience gained by the EC in the enforcement. The EC plans to publish a draft of the Guidelines for public consultation by mid-2024 to adopt them in 2025. In the meanwhile, with the Communication, the EC provides certain clarifications on its approach to determine whether to pursue cases of exclusionary conduct as a matter of priority.
Originally published by April, 2023
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